


This Means War

by SilverAmoebasquid



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Basically wing spikers preying on setters, Even lower-key Ennoshita making Akaashi do things he doesn't wanna, High-key Terushima ruining Shirabu's life, I say for the eight time in ten minutes, Low-Key Futakuchi oppressing Yahaba, RIP Shirabu, Somebody save the setters they don't deserve this, TeruShira, next gen captains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-29 13:14:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7685914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverAmoebasquid/pseuds/SilverAmoebasquid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every single thing about Terushima puts Shirabu on edge. Peace is not an option anymore for the next generation of haikyuu team captains. This means war.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> The hate ship of the century you didn't know you needed. Big thanks to [starlity](http://starlity.tumblr.com), check her out if you've never looked at her blog, she's fantasmic and her art is truly beautiful! Thank you for reading!

There was a bad vibe in the air when Akaashi woke up; he could practically smell it. Recounting this moment, he would later realize that his decision to ignore the subtle pull in his gut would be the worst decision he’d ever made in his seventeen years of life.

He flipped his alarm off, breathed deeply, stretched tired limbs across his bed, then pulled himself to his feet. It was an important day, not that he didn’t appreciate each day as it’s own gift to him. Life had been anything but normal in the last month and a half since the school year had ended in March, he’d been chosen, as everyone had known he would be, to captain the volleyball team for the next year, and he’d had to say goodbye to Bokuto, a memory that still made his heart clench when he thought about it.

It had been one thing for Bokuto to be captain, the older student being the most charismatic person Akaashi had ever met and able to instantly capture the hearts of everyone around him. Akaashi wasn’t like that. He couldn’t captivate a crowd with his smile, he couldn’t score spikes that would boost everyone’s morale tenfold. But as the setter, he was the control tower of Fukurodani’s offense, his teammates respected him wholeheartedly, and he was doing just fine.

 

Today was a bit different though. It was Sunday, so no practice was scheduled. After forming a mutual respect-based friendship with Ennoshita Chikara of Karasuno the previous year, Akaashi had been invited up to Miyagi for a casual get together with the other new captains. Akaashi wasn’t sure whose idea it had been originally, but someone had decided that the captains needed to be friends with each other and get together outside of matches and learn about each other as people, not just as opponents on the other side of the net. Many good things had come out of Fukurodani’s friendship with Nekoma, Shinzen, and Ubugawa so Akaashi had accepted the invitation.

He dismissed the unsettled feeling in his stomach as nerves about meeting so many new people at once and being expected to get along with them. He was pretty sure everybody knew about the situation at Nekoma recently so hopefully nobody would ask him why no captain from the usually-friendly school had accepted the invitation. As long as no one brought up Nekoma, Akaashi thought he should be fine. Akaashi pushed his toothbrush around his mouth for a few minutes, tugged a fresh t-shirt on over his head and ran a hand through his hair—he never really understood what it was doing, but he didn’t care enough to put effort into a “style”. He squinted into the mirror one last time. Good first impressions, right? Good.  
The entire two hours on the train to Miyagi, he couldn’t shake the feeling. He tried tapping his foot on the floor until the crabby old man next to him looked at him with a gaze of barely-restrained fury. He tried counting the number of people on the train car, but there were only twenty-two so that didn’t take long. Nothing he tried worked to dispel the excessive energy that seemed to be coursing through his body. With every second he sped toward Miyagi, the ominous feeling seemed to grow stronger. Superstition seemed like an illogical, unproductive way to spend one’s time, so Akaashi wasn’t particularly susceptible to that sort of thing, but his mind wandered more than once to “What if this is a sign? Something bad is going to happen.”  
No bombs fell on the train. No cars de-railed, pulling the entire caravan into a ravine. Nobody even let out a particularly disgusting fart. It was a peaceful ride. Too peaceful?

Ennoshita was waiting for Akaashi at the station, his friend smiling warmly in greeting.

“We’re going to Shiratorizawa’s captain’s house, right?” Akaashi asked, trying to put aside the feeling, hopefully for good.

“Mhm.” Ennoshita nodded. “Shirabu has a really big house. Apparently, his family is loaded.”

The two took a bus that dropped them less than a block from Shirabu’s house and Akaashi could see that all the houses around here were luxurious and large, clearly a completely different class than he was used to. Ennoshita rang the doorbell of the Shirabu house and it was answered in seconds by someone who perfectly fit Akaashi’s stereotype-generated image of what someone in this neighborhood would look like. Putting aside Shirabu’s light brown hair that lay perfectly straight, bangs cut in flawless lines (in contrast to the unruly bird nest on Akaashi’s head) and intelligent brown eyes, Akaashi noted that his host was significantly shorter than him and had a smaller build, and yet Shirabu’s presence made him seem almost the same same size as Akaashi. He stood with the confidence of someone who was standing on his own ground and he knew it. He smiled and waved them in with the grace of someone used to having guests. Akaashi thanked him quietly and stepped into the foyer. And what a foyer it was. Decorative plants lined the walls of the entryway, flawless cool gray paint adorned the walls, dark hardwood floors stretched beyond into the rest of the house. Akaashi’s eyes played over the spiral staircase and—was that an elevator?—before his gaze was drawn into the kitchen. There were two other teenagers there, one of them standing on a chair, yelling, and swatting at the other one with a broom.

Shirabu laughed lightly. “Futakuchi, Yahaba, cut it out. You’re gonna make a bad first impression. _I _know you’re both idiots, _Ennoshita _probably has an idea, but _Akaashi... _”______

Akaashi realized that everyone’s eyes were on him and he took a subconscious step backwards, the littlest bit of color coming to his cheeks. “Ah, h-hi.”

The teen standing on the chair tossed his hair slightly, then hopped down to shake Akaashi’s hand. “Futakuchi Kenji. Date Tech.”

“Hey. Akaashi Keiji. Fukurodani.”

The other teen shoved Futakuchi out of the way and introduced himself as Yahaba Shigeru of Aoba Jousai High School.

“Ennoshita, Akaashi, you guys want anything to eat or drink?” Shirabu gestured to the counter which was lined with fruit trays, displays of crackers and cheese, and other delicious-looking snacks.

“Thanks!” Ennoshita moved to grab a strawberry. “Akaashi?”

Akaashi shook his head. “No thanks. My stomach... Ah...” He waved his hand parallel to the floor in a “so-so” gesture.

Ennoshita gave him a sympathetic glance. then looked around at the group. “Isn’t there supposed to be one more of us-”

At that moment, the front door swung open, the handle smacking the wall behind it. Shirabu narrowed his eyes and stepped with forced lightness back to the door. Akaashi glanced in that direction as well. The forceful opening of the door had scraped paint off the wall. Shirabu had noticed as well. But more noticeable than that by a longshot, was the person in the doorway.

Loudly-colored clothing, blond undercut, shit-eating grin on his face.

“Hey! You guys are all the new captains? That’s sweeeet! I’m Terushima Yuuji, Johzenji High School’s captain!”

Was that a tongue piercing? 

“Oi!” Shirabu glared at Terushima, pointing to the mark on the wall. “Fucker, look what you did!”

Terushima rolled his eyes, the grin never leaving his expression. “I’m sorry, did I hurt the wall’s feelings?”

Shirabu tilted his head slightly, eyes narrowing. Akaashi wasn’t positive, but there could’ve been actual steam coming from his ears. _Oh no... _Akaashi pressed his hands over his stomach. He really should’ve listened to this premonition.__


	2. This Means War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And this was the last time anyone ever saw Shirabu alive...

Shirabu’s body was a living contradiction. His mind was whirling faster than a 1st tempo quick toss, yet on the outside, he was perfectly still. Despite the fact that they were all gathered in _his _house, he no longer felt like he was running the show. He was sitting on a couch, legs crossed, arms folded across his chest, squinting painfully. This wasn’t his usual spot to sit in and he was bitter. From this cushion, there was a bad angle to view the TV, other people in the room, and sunlight streamed through the window into his eyes. But someone was sitting in his spot.__  
  
Terushima fucking Yuuji was in his spot, his feet propped up on the coffee table, completely relaxed, but still talking animatedly to Futakuchi and Ennoshita, telling them some enthralling story about his oh so exciting life. Shirabu huffed and looked away. Yahaba looked at him from his adjacent seat.  
  
“You okay there, man?”  
  
Shirabu glared. “I don’t like him.”  
  
“Terushima? Why not?”  
  
“Are you listening to him talk? He doesn’t have a brain! How does he even know how to breathe? Why does he exist!?”  
  
Yahaba chuckled and winked. “Kinda sounds like you’ve got a bit of a crush, eh, Shirabu?”  
  
That was it. Shirabu stood up and crossed the room in three large strides, stopping inches from Terushima. “Listen up. I hate you.”  
  
Terushima stopped talking for the first time since arriving.  
  
“And look at my face. I’m not smiling, I’m not blushing, I despise you.” Shirabu balled his fists by his sides.  
  
Terushima’s grin just increased and he stood up to face Shirabu evenly.  
  
_Damn it, can just one person be shorter than me? _Shirabu seethed.__  
  
“That’s alright. I’ll grow on you!” Terushima winked.  
  
Shirabu narrowed his eyes. “No, That’s not how that works. There isn’t one single thing about you that I like. And I never will.”  
  
Ennoshita stood up from the couch. “Uh, guys, this really isn’t necessary...”  
  
Terushima ignored Ennoshita. “You’ll see, Shirabu. I’m not all bad. Get that stick out of your ass and you’ll find me perfectly endearing.”  
  
Shirabu raised himself up on his toes slightly. “Endearing, that’s a big word for someone with the IQ of a pen cap. I’m not quite sure you know what it means because that’s the last word I’d use to describe you.”  
  
“Even if it’s the last, at least it’s still on the list,” Terushima laughed.  
  
Shirabu was gonna start throwing punches soon. “No way! It’s so far off the list. What demon created you anyway?”  
  
“I’m honored you think so highly of me! You’re a cute kid, ya know.” Then Terushima did the unspeakable. He slung his arm around Shirabu’s shoulders, all the while laughing his soul-crushing chuckle.  
  
The pressure building inside Shirabu ruptured in that moment and he flung Terushima’s arm off of him and raised his fists. “YOU DUMBASS!!!”  
  
Ennoshita was already standing and Akaashi reluctantly joined him a second later when they both grabbed at Shirabu’s arms, pulling him away from his target.  
  
“Easy there,” Ennoshita said softly. “He’s just trying to provoke you.”  
  
Shirabu sagged and lowered his fists.  
  
“Hey, uh, what do you guys say we go hang around outside, get some fresh air and cool off,” Futakuchi suggested.

Everyone really _obeyed _more than _agreed _. The silence was crippling the first half block they strolled. That is, until Terushima started walking behind Shirabu and proceeded to flat-tire him. Then they had to start walking in formation, with Shirabu sandwiched in between Ennoshita and Yahaba and Terushima between Akaashi and Futakuchi.____

Yahaba cleared his throat quietly. “So, Shirabu, how was your break from school?”

Shirabu was honestly glad for the distraction from glaring daggers into the back of Terushima’s head. “It was good. I was able to get some extra studying done so I had a good amount of background knowledge on what we’ve started this year.”

Terushima snorted.

Shirabu stiffened.

“Studying? Over break? Why? That’s what the school year is for. Breaks are for doing things with your friends and not worrying about that kind of stuff!”

“Hate to break it to you, but some of us care about how we do in school. I got into Shiratorizawa on academics alone.”

“Good for you. _I’m in class seven _.”__

Shirabu choked on his own saliva, and had to lean against Ennoshita for a second. “YOU DON’T MAKE ANY SENSE. HOW?? HOW DO YOU NOT STUDY AND GET PUT IN CLASS SEVEN!?”

Terushima ran a hand through his hair and winked. “Do you want my secret to being successful?”

_Yes _. “HELL NO! Keep your bad hair and your black market study guides to yourself! I want no part in your shenanigans.”__

“Shenanigans? Who even says that anymore?”

“FOR YOUR INFORMATION, MR. SCHOLAR-”

“Oh my gosh, you people, just shut up!” Futakuchi threw his hands in the air in exasperation. ‘Just don’t talk to each other.”

The walk was uneventful the rest of the way. They did a loop around a neighborhood park and ended up back at Shirabu’s house. No more fights had broken out, and Terushima had even laughed at a joke Shirabu made. Shirabu wasn’t quite ready to _trust _or even _like _Terushima, but he didn’t think he hated him as much as before.____  
  
They re-entered the sizable house and Shirabu fought off the urge to make a comment about the dent in the wall from Terushima’s ostentatious entrance earlier in the day.  
  
“Shirabu, it’s lunch time aren’t you going to feed us?” Terushima asked, sloppily kicking off his shoes, one flying a good distance away from the first.  
  
“Um, yes, I was actually just about to ask if people wanted anything,” Shirabu placed Terushima’s shoes in a neater position with forced calmness. _In fact, I was going to look gracious for offering but since you asked first, I just look like an asshole. You will regret damaging my image, you bastard _. “Yeah, what do you guys want—”__  
  
Terushima already had the glow of the fridge light spreading across the floor at his feet. _How did he even get over there so fast? Also, get the fuck out of my fridge... ___  
  
Shirabu donned his maturity cap and strolled serenely into the kitchen, gently (not gently) elbowing Terushima to the side. “I could make us some—”  
  
Suddenly Terushima was laughing and reaching around him into the fridge. “Hah! Is this shirasu?”  
  
“Don’t even think about eating that. That is MINE.”  
  
Terushima laughed again. “What, no. I don’t like shirasu. It’s baby fish. Shirabu’s a baby fish killer!”  
  
_Never mind what I said before, I’m gonna shove it down your throat until you puke and then I’ll make you eat that and— ___  
  
“Shirabu,” Akaashi had placed a hand on Shirabu’s shoulder and looked like he knew exactly what Shirabu was thinking.  
  
Shirabu sighed. “We can make some sandwiches. If you guys want.”  
  
The others readily agreed and they pulled out the many available options Shirabu’s fridge was stocked with. Shirabu struck up a friendly conversation with Futakuchi as the crew started grabbing for bread and condiments.  
  
Futakuchi reached around Shirabu for the lettuce, his foot knocking into the broom that had been left leaning against the counter. The bristly end smacked Yahaba on it’s way down and the teen made an undignified noise and ran a hand through his broom-tousled hair.  
  
Shirabu was about to take a knife-full of mustard to his sandwich when he felt a strange pressure on the top of his head. His hands froze mid-spread and he looked up. Terushima was casually smiling down at him.  
  
Shirabu swallowed, slightly at a loss for words. “Kindly get your chin off my head, Terushima.”  
  
Terushima just smiled and leaned his elbows on Shirabu’s shoulders. “But you’re just the right height for this!”  
  
“I can see you standing on your toes... You’re not that much taller than me.”  
  
“So tiny!!!”  
  
Shirabu whipped around, throwing Terushima off him and splattering the tile floor with mustard.  
  
Terushima laughed and danced out of the way. “Jeez, Shirabu. Making a mess of your own house now?”  
  
Shirabu silently seethed as he went to grab a rag. He calmed down shortly after as Terushima went back to his sandwich and Shirabu went back to his own as well. It wasn’t until he was about to top his delicious creation with the final slice of bread that disaster struck again. He glanced around the countertop for a second looking for the jar of mayonnaise that would make his lunch complete, but didn’t see it. “Hey does anyone know—” his words caught in his throat. Terushima was sitting on the counter, one hand wrapped around the mayo jar. In his other hand, a spoon was jammed into his mouth. He grinned and winked at Shirabu.  
  
Shirabu’s face contorted into one of pure disgust. _He’s eating mayonnaise... Out of the jar... _Shirabu found himself frozen in place, unable to move at all as he watched in slow motion as Terushima retracted the spoon from his mouth with a wet sucking sound and dunked it back into the jar.__  
  
Time returned to its normal pace as Terushima slid the jar across the counter to Shirabu. “You looking for this?”  
  
Shirabu stared into the jar, the spoon still visibly shining with Terushima’s saliva. He felt his knees go weak and suddenly he was sprinting to the bathroom, throwing himself onto his knees over the toilet, gagging into the bowl. Nothing came up and his stomach resettled itself after a few moments, but he stayed there for a bit longer, breathing heavily. Shirabu leaned his head on the edge of the seat and whispered to himself, “This means war.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shirasu is Shirabu's canon fave food, in case you were lost in that part


	3. Team Building

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ennoshita thinks there is hope. He is wrong.

Two weeks later, Shirabu still wasn’t sure about these people. Shirabu slipped his shoes off as he cleared the doorway. He’d arrived to Ennoshita’s house fashionably late and everyone was already there except Futakuchi, who rolled in several minutes later, yelling something about being on time except that there was a pokemon a few blocks away he needed to catch. Ignoring the rolled eyes and sighs of the others, he wandered into the kitchen, asking for food.  
  
Ennoshita sighed and followed after him. “You guys can head into the living room. I’ll grab some snacks and drinks.” Shirabu turned to Akaashi for some casual conversation while Yahaba and Terushima chatted animatedly as they sauntered into the other room. A second later, Futakuchi approached from behind.  
  
“Hey, Yahaba,” Futakuchi said quietly.  
  
Yahaba turned to look and was met with a broom in his face.  
  
Futakuchi laughed and returned the broom to its original home in the pantry while Yahaba made distressed noises and attempted to fix his disheveled hair.

Shirabu picked a spot on a couch furthest away from Terushima.  
  
“Hey, Shirabu!” Terushima grinned. “How’s the wall in your house doing?”  
  
Shirabu glared and ignored him.  
  
Ennoshita served them all drinks and Yahaba spoke up.  
  
“Is there a reason you wanted to assemble the disaster squad this morning, Ennoshita?”  
  
Ennoshita smiled serenely, flopping down next to Futakuchi on a couch. “I just thought we could all gain something from playing some team-building games.”  
  
Shirabu folded his arms. “We don’t need to. Nobody says we all have to hang out together. None of the previous captains ever had this.”  
  
“Well, I just feel like we could all learn to respect each other a little more if we got to know each other better.” Ennoshita smiled.  
  
“Like... Two truths and a lie?” Futakuchi asked.  
  
Ennoshita smiled. “Yeah! I’ll go first. Okay, I don’t know how to sew on buttons, one time Tanaka and Noya said they were going to steal shopping carts from the grocery story and ride them into the lake and I gave up trying to stop them and they did it. It was funny to watch, and... I enjoy building intricate kite designs.”  
  
“That story can’t be real!” Yahaba said. “You didn’t let them do it.”  
  
Ennoshita grinned. “I absolutely let them do it.”  
  
“The button sewing,” Shirabu suggested.  
  
Ennoshita pointed. “You got it!”  
  
Futakuchi snorted. “You know how to fix buttons? Have you always been such a mom?”  
  
“I can fix buttons,” Akaashi added.  
  
“I can too. It’s come in handy,” Terushima shrugged.  
  
All in all, Futakuchi was the only one who couldn’t. He was taught to realize the error in his ways. “Okay, okay, I’m the worst, let it go!” he laughed. “Let’s just go around the room. I’ll go next. I can walk on my hands, I’ve eaten twelve peaches in one sitting, and I have keys to 11 out of the 14 houses on my street.”  
  
“I would not trust you with the key to my house,” Akaashi stated bluntly.  
  
“Nope.”  
  
“You can’t walk on your hands. There’s no way,” Yahaba guessed.  
  
“Nope! There were only nine peaches. But I ate them in seven and a half minutes.”  
  
“That’s disgusting....”  
  
“It.... It was. Yahaba, your turn.”  
  
“Alright, I use more than six hair products every day, I’ve illegally driven a car with Kyoutani, and I drink four liters of water a day.”  
  
“I’m really hoping you haven’t broken the law... So that’s my guess,” Ennoshita said slowly.  
  
Yahaba laughed. “Sorry... It just kinda happened. No one got hurt. We didn’t get caught or anything.”  
  
“Wouldn’t you drown from drinking that much water?”  
  
“Nope. It’s good for you. Really guys? You didn’t even question the six hair products? Who do you think I am, Oikawa?”  
  
Terushima crossed his arms. “Alright, how many do you use then?”  
  
“Only four!”  
  
Record for the lowest number of hair products used was Akaashi. “No, I don’t even use conditioner... That just makes it fluffier than normal...”  
  
Everyone bows to Akaashi’s hair.  
  
“Um...” Akaashi fiddled with his fingers subconsciously. “I went to an owl show once with Bokuto, I was scared of vacuum cleaners until I was 8, and I wear glasses. Contacts most of the time.”  
  
“The glasses!” Terushima yelled.  
  
Akaashi smiled slightly. “Was I that obvious?”  
  
“Can we just laugh about the vacuum cleaner thing for a second?” Yahaba chuckled.  
  
Akaashi blushed slightly. “Let’s not. Terushima?”  
  
Terushima grinned confidently. “I like art museums, I’ve never broken a cell phone, and my team and I often argue about whether our uniform is yellow, gold, or dandelion colored.”  
  
“You don’t like art museums,” Akaashi guessed.  
  
Terushima smacked the arm of the couch. “Dang, you got me. The uniform debate is fun though. Shirabu, your turn!”  
  
Shirabu rolled his eyes. “I own a pet rabbit, nobody is dumb enough to argue that our uniform is purple, Terushima is my favorite person ever.”  
  
“Aren’t your uniforms kind of magenta?” Akaashi piped up.  
  
Shirabu stared at Akaashi. “That’s the same thing.”  
  
“I would say they’re different colors,” Terushima contributed.  
  
“Why does it even matter?”  
  
Terushima smirked. “Because we just argued about the color of your uniform. Which makes that a lie. Which means-”  
  
“OH ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY NOT!” Shirabu stood up, hands clenched in fists by his side. “STOP TWISTING MY WORDS AROUND!”  
  
Terushima shrugged nonchalantly. “What can I say, you make it too easy for me.”  
  
“You know, you talk big, but in the end, Johzenji hasn’t beat Shiratorizawa in a match in years. That’s what matters in the grand scheme of things. So your words don’t mean much to me.”  
  
Ennoshita quickly interrupted and stood up. “Okay, I have another idea. Um, get into teams of two. Akaashi, want to be my partner?”  
  
“Sure.”  
  
“Futakuchi, you’re mine!” Yahaba yelled.  
  
“Of course, dear,” Futakuchi snickered and went to sit by the setter.

 

Ennoshita disappeared into another room for a minute. When he returned, he placed a small pile of legos on side tables in front of each of the three teams, then set a little lego dog on a coffee table in the center of the room.  
  
“I’ll bite. What are we doing now?” Futakuchi asked.  
  
Ennoshita grinned. “So each team has the same legos and you have exactly what you need to build a replica of this dog. Only one of you can come up and look at the dog and only the other person is allowed to touch the blocks. Therefore whoever is looking at the dog, you need to be able to relay instructions to the other to be able to build it. Figure out who’s doing what.”  
  
Terushima grinned at Shirabu. “You have a preference?”  
  
Shirabu stood up. “I’m not taking orders from you.”  
  
Terushima just smiled and gathered the pile of blocks in front of him.  
  
“Everybody ready?” Ennoshita called. “Go!”  
  
Shirabu, Futakuchi, and Ennoshita dashed toward the dog on the coffee table. Futakuchi was the first to get his hands on it, but Shirabu was able to get a pretty good look right off the bat. He ran back to Terushima, already loudly shouting directions on how to build the dog.  
  
Terushima was just not understanding his words and Shirabu had to physically jam his hands into his pockets to keep from reaching out and assisting with the project.  
  
“N-No, that white 2x1 goes on top of the black one—not that black one, the black one on it’s head—that’s not it’s head, Terushima!”  
  
Shirabu took several trips back to the model and he figured the others had too, though he’d started to block them out to focus on getting Terushima to understand his words. He practically forgot the other teams existed until a loud cheer went up from the other side of the room. Shirabu whirled around. Yahaba was holding up a replica of the model dog proudly. Shirabu glanced to Akaashi and Ennoshita. Their dog was taking shape quickly.  
  
Shirabu glared at his partner. “Terushima, that’s not where that leg goes! Do you even know what a dog looks like?”  
  
Terushima scoffed. “I like my dog though. He’s cuter.”  
  
“That’s not the point of the game though!”  
  
Terushima grinned. “Ah, Shirabu, ‘ _the game _’ is an illusion. We-”__  
  
Shirabu grabbed at the remaining legos on their table with both hands and flung them in Terushima’s face.  
  
Terushima flinched backwards, letting the blocks scatter across the wood floor. The others froze and looked over.  
  
Shirabu grabbed the front of Terushima’s shirt. “JUST BUILD THE MOTHER FU—” he suddenly fell to his knees as he took a step forward and a sharp sensation slammed through his foot and cut off his speech. One of the several legos he’d sent flying was brutally stabbing him and he struggled to breathe evenly and refrain from making a cry of pain.  
  
Terushima laughed, looking down at him.  
  
Shirabu scooped up a few legos and threw them at Terushima, blushing slightly.

 

They had all moved outside to the backyard at Ennoshita’s command. Futakuchi was snickering into his hand. “You two are making Ennoshita mad. Be careful or you’re gonna get grounded.”  
  
Ennoshita stepped briskly through the door, a wad of fabric in his hands, grinning mischievously. “Three-legged race, anyone? Yahaba, can we partner up?”  
  
Yahaba smirked and nodded.  
  
Shirabu took a step towards Futakuchi.  
  
Futakuchi backed away. “Sorry, man, I’m with Akaashi.”  
  
Akaashi blinked in surprise. “Oh, um, I...”  
  
Futakuchi took the setter’s arm and whispered. “I’m trying to save us both here.”  
  
Akaashi agreed.  
  
Shirabu sighed, accepted the bandana Ennoshita handed him, positioned his right leg next to Terushima’s left, and tied the cloth snugly around their calves.  
  
Getting into position at the edge of the yard took a minute for all of them.  
  
Terushima glanced at Shirabu. “We have to put our arms around each other’s backs.”  
  
Shirabu noted that the other teams did, in fact, have their arms slung around each other’s shoulders. “Don’t touch me.”  
  
“Shirabu, we have to. You do want to win, don’t you?”  
  
“I don’t care about winning,” Shirabu grumbled, but put his arm around Terushima reluctantly anyway.  
  
Terushima followed suit and a second later, Ennoshita counted them off.  
  
Ennoshita and Yahaba took off at top speed, yelling in sync, “Inside! Outside! Inside! Outside!” Akaashi and Futakuchi stumbled slightly at first but quickly found their rhythm too. Terushima and Shirabu immediately both tried step off with their right feet and almost fell over. Shirabu huffed a sigh and dragged their attached legs forward, getting themselves set in a clunky pace. The others were all ahead of them. Shirabu grimaced and pulled them along faster. Terushima grabbed the hem of Shirabu’s shirt in surprise at the suddenly increased pace.  
  
Shirabu tried to push him off and keep them moving at the same time.  
  
Terushima snickered and poked at Shirabu’s exposed side.  
  
“Fucker! Stop that! Just run, damn it!” Shirabu elbowed Terushima hard in the ribs.  
  
The smug grin was wiped off Terushima’s face as he pinwheeled his arms for a moment, then started to fall. Shirabu’s own smug grin disappeared an instant afterward as he started falling too.  
  
“Damn it, Terushima!” Shirabu yelled as he landed awkwardly on top of the other teenager.  
  
“Hey, you’re the one who shoved me!” Terushima retaliated.  
  
“You were being a dumbass!” Shirabu growled and braced his hand against Terushima’s shoulder to try and push himself to his feet. Terushima moved his arm, causing Shirabu to fall again, smacking his chin against Terushima’s chest.  
  
Terushima chuckled, Shirabu punched him. Terushima laughed harder and smacked Shirabu lightly on the side, making him fall to the grass. Shirabu seethed and climbed back on top of Terushima and started throwing punches. Terushima was practically in hysterics, yet he still managed to block most of the blows with his hands. Shirabu was getting more and more angry by Terushima’s lack of negative reaction. He started to move to kick Terushima.  
  
Time moved in slow motion as Shirabu realized his mistake. As he moved his own leg, Terushima’s came with, the two limbs still tied together. Shirabu felt Terushima’s leg slip between his own, and then—

 

Stars exploded behind Shirabu’s eyes as Terushima’s knee connected with his crotch.  
  
Tears were flowing down Terushima’s cheeks as he laughed even harder.  
  
Shirabu immediately fell into the grass, wanting to curl into himself, but unable with his leg still awkwardly positioned next to Terushima’s. He covered his face with his hands and tried to fight back the prickling sensation in his own eyes. “Untie us,” he gasped.  
  
Terushima snickered.  
  
Shirabu grunted. “Untie us. Now. Or so help me God I will end your life here and now.”  
  
“Okay, okay, chill out!” Terushima was still laughing, but he undid the bandana around their legs.  
  
Shirabu vaguely noticed the other four standing off to the side, watching with emotions ranging from amusement to sheer disappointment. Shirabu ignored them and curled himself into a ball.


	4. Match Point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The consequences of this war are starting to show.

Coach Washijou was in his office for the first several minutes of practice. That was fine, Shirabu led stretches by himself most of the time anyway.

“Let’s do some passing practice, okay?” Shirabu called out afterwards, trying to peek into the window to the office. Washijou appeared to be on the phone. He had his usual intense look on his face, but he didn’t look angry by any means. That was a good thing for all of them. Shirabu went to go practice with Goshiki for the next few minutes before Washijou finally emerged.

He clapped his hands twice to get the team’s attention and they all stopped what they were doing and gave their full attention.

“Last minute change of plans, guys. I was just on the phone with the coach at Johzenji and we agreed to a practice match this afternoon.”

Fuck. Oh fucking shit. Not this. Anything but this.

Shirabu was pretty sure he was about to faint. He stared at his coach. His throat was impossibly dry, and swallowing felt weird.

“Why?” he blurted.

Washijou narrowed his eyes at him, tipping his head. “Would any of the underclassmen like to explain to your captain why practice matches are important...?”

There were a few scattered chuckles.

Shirabu blushed. “Ah, sorry. That’s not... what I meant. Um, when are they coming?”

“About a half hour. Please continue warming up.”

“OSSU!” The collection of boys went back to drills, invigorated by the prospect of the practice match to come.

 

“Shirabu, are you okay?” Goshiki asked as his captain missed yet another ball he’d been served.

Shirabu ripped his gaze away from the door and held up a hand guiltily. “Ah, yeah. Sorry, Goshiki. Just a little distracted.”

The younger smiled. “I’m really excited for the practice match too. It’ll be a good match for the first years to get used to teams that have a different playing style.”

“Oh. Um, right. Exciting. It’ll be a good opportunity, huh.”

That was the moment the gym doors were flung wide and Shirabu locked eyes with the devil incarnate.

The rest of the Johzenji team filed in and Terushima bounded over to Shirabu.

“Hey! Fancy seeing you here, Shirabu!”

“Go die in a fire,” Shirabu snapped.

Terushima grinned and brushed him off, moving to approach Goshiki. “You might want to watch out for your captain, kiddo. I think he’s on his man-period.”

The second-year just looked slightly confused. “That’s not... a thing...”

Terushima shrugged, already heading back to his team. “Either way, he’s kinda bitchy today, wouldn’t you agree?”

Shirabu clenched his fists by his sides.

As both teams got into their first rotation for the game, Goshiki leaned over to Shirabu. “Do you know Johzenji’s captain?”  
  
“Unfortunately. Don’t worry about it, just play normally. We’ll shut ‘em down just like any other team. Just keep in mind, um... Trash-talk in moderation isn’t illegal.”  
  
Goshiki smirked. “You got it.”  
  
Shirabu smiled to himself and got into stance, waiting for Johzenji to serve. He and Goshiki were the only remaining members of last year’s team and despite their frequent arguments the previous year, they’d eventually learned to settle their differences. Ennoshita was convinced that somehow he and Terushima could do the same, but Shirabu wasn’t sure. Most of his conflict with Goshiki had stemmed from jealousy that the younger had been chosen as a regular his first year and was overly excited about everything. As the new school year had started, the jealousy had faded as they’d become a special duo and Goshiki had matured and calmed down a little bit, making him more bearable for Shirabu. As for Terushima—  
  
“SHIRABU!”  
  
Shirabu snapped back into the game and saw the ball flying straight at him. He brought his hands together instinctively and the ball ricocheted off his forearms, though it was sloppy and in the end, Johzenji got the point.  
  
“Sorry guys, that one’s on me,” Shirabu grimaced.  
  
One of the other third-years clapped him on the back. “Don’t mind. It’s a team sport. It’s no one’s fault”  
  
Shirabu smiled slightly. “Well then let’s take that point back, shall we?”

 

They did manage to take that point back easily, but that’s when things stopped being simple. It seemed to Shirabu that Terushima was intentionally taking every opportunity to foil his tosses or spike right past his block, which, of course, was the point of the game, but it seemed to Shirabu that he was being targeted. And yet, Johzenji’s style of game play was so chaotic that Shirabu could hardly pinpoint any form of “strategy” they were using. He consulted Goshiki about this during a time-out, wondering if the other experienced player had picked up on anything.  
  
“The captain definitely seems to be targeting you. But other than that, I can’t see any sort of formulated plan to how they attack.”  
  
Shirabu threw his hands in the air in disgust. “How can they be structured enough for Terushima to be constantly near me, yet everything else is so random? How do we win?”  
  
“I’ll do better!” Goshiki exclaimed, a determined look on his face.  
  
Shirabu felt the corners of his mouth tip up. “Then I’ll keep tossing to the ace. Let’s take these first two sets and get this over with.”  
  
Shirabu glanced at the score, stepping back onto the court. 21-23; Johzenji. In the last minutes of the game, Shiratorizawa stepped it up and reached set point first, Johzenji then scoring and sending them into a deuce. One more unlucky point, a quietly sneered remark from Terushima, and a missed toss from Shirabu handed Johzenji the first set.

 

Shirabu was pissed. But he regained his cool pretty quickly. The key was to stay that way no matter what Terushima said. Spending every second on the offensive, the second set finished in Shiratorizawa’s favor. 25-21. Shirabu couldn’t stand the way that Terushima and the rest of Johzenji seemed to view the game, as nothing more than an amusing pastime, as opposed to the valuable learning experience and a source of pride if they won, as Shirabu saw it.

 

Walking into the third and final set, Shirabu was determined to not let his momentum drop even a bit. He’d found his rhythm against his nemesis and he’d just have to stay focused on his side of the net. He’d been noticing as well that several members of his team seemed unnecessarily wary of Johzenji and he figured, that that was probably his own fault as well, for being so easily provoked by Terushima. He tried to impart a quick pep-talk to explain that Johzenji really wasn’t an even match for them and they could easily beat them in this set by an even larger margin than the previous set. This seemed to stimulate them all to look a little meaner and hit a little harder.  
  
Unfortunately, Johzenji wasn’t about to lose so spectacularly again.

 

“Well, looks like it’s down to this last set. Betcha didn’t even think we’d last this long, eh, Shirabu?”  
  
Shirabu just grinned provocatively. “I never said that. We need a good opponent every now and again.”  
  
“Happy to beat your ass.”  
  
“Don’t count on it.” Shirabu was fired up, his tosses for the first half of the set were precise and almost always expertly spiked to the floor. Shirabu’s team, master of strong, clean attacks, was having difficulty keeping up with Johzenji’s chaotic gameplay, but the score read 20-19; Shiratorizawa, the next time Shirabu looked up at it.  
  
Shirabu wiped sweat off his forehead and grinned at his teammates. “Nice job getting up to 20 first, guys. I feel like we’re all getting the hang of their style, yeah?”  
  
The players nodded in agreement, tired, but determined.  
  
The next ball was spiked right over the tips of Shirabu’s fingertips, so close that he could feel the static energy of the orb as it passed him by.  
  
“Bet a couple extra centimeters would be nice, huh?” Terushima whispered, just loud enough for Shirabu to hear.  
  
Shirabu’s next serve was at least a meter and a half out of bounds.  
  
“You okay, Shirabu? You look a little tense. You should try to loosen up,” was called from the other half of the court.  
  
“Is this some kind of game to you?” Shirabu shouted back.  
  
Whistle.  
  
20-20.  
  
Shiratorizawa’s successful spike; 21-20. Their failed block; 21-21. An unsuspected setter dump from Johzenji; 21-22. Shiratorizawa service ace; 22-22. Johzenji’s synchronised attack; 22-23. Their serve hit the net; 23-23. A serve too difficult to receive:

 

23-24  
  
“Match point!” One of the Johzenji kids exclaimed.  
  
Terushima caught Shirabu’s eye and turned to his team. “No sweat, guys. We’ve got them working too hard for what they want.”  
  
Shirabu clenched his fists at his sides. Suddenly Terushima was right there on the other side of the net.  
  
His voice was quiet, only the two of them could hear. “It’ll never work unless you loosen up a bit, don’tcha think, Shirabu?”  
  
Shirabu scowled and grabbed the net, about to say something snarly to Terushima when the whistle blew. It was time to play. But Shirabu wasn’t happy about it.  
  
Goshiki smashed a powerful serve over the net, but it was quickly picked up.  
  
Shirabu leapt to block the ball, putting all the power he could muster into his jump, teeth clenched, rage radiating off of him. He didn’t even notice the tiny feeling on his forearm as the ball flew off his hand in a sloppy soft-block. But then the whistle blew. Net touch. He could feel the ghost of the touch on his arm as he looked down. That was his fault.  
  
Johzenji was yelling. 23-25. They’d won. The smug look Shirabu knew would be waiting for him was right there on the other side of the net.  
  
“Good game,” Shirabu said stiffly, reaching a hand under the net. Terushima shook his hand for an instant longer than Shirabu would’ve liked. Some conversation happened between the teams, but in general, the Johzenji kids seemed to hold the power, a concerning parallel of the relationship between their captains.

 

“Man, that was fun!” Terushima appeared out of nowhere and smacked his hand across Shirabu’s back.  
  
Shirabu stumbled forward slightly. “What do you want from me?”  
  
“Ah, come on, buddy! Find your chill! Really, what’s got you wound so tight today?” Terushima grinned and placed his hands on Shirabu’s back to rub circles into his shoulderblades.  
  
Shirabu forcefully removed Terushima’s arms from the back of his shirt with a loud smack. “DON’T TOUCH ME, YOU CREEP!!”  
Several people looked up at the disturbance. Terushima smirked and ruffled Shirabu’s hair slightly.  
Shirabu narrowed his eyes and wrapped his fingers around Terushima’s wrist, ready to snap the limb off, when he suddenly found Goshiki grabbing both his arms and pulling him away from the sneering teenage captain.

 

Most of the Johzenji kids were starting to file out the gym doors.  
  
“Careful, Shirabu. Don’t lose your cool.” Terushima winked and followed his team out.  
  
“Son of a bitch!” Shirabu glared and half-heartedly tried to wrestle his way out of Goshiki’s grip, though ultimately gave up and slouched against his ace.  
  
“I-it’s okay, Shirabu...” Goshiki coaxed.  
  
“I hate him.” Shirabu watched the doors close behind his nemesis.  
  
“You hated me last year.”  
  
“You are not Terushima Yuuji.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies in case I messed anything up in regards to volleyball rules. I don't actually play, but I wanted to write this anyway!


	5. Sharing is Caring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone lets Terushima into Shirabu's house.

Shirabu contently pushed his front door open and slipped his shoes off. He grabbed a chocolate bar from the kitchen to keep him occupied for an hour until dinner and headed up the stairs to do homework in his room. He peacefully contemplated the topic he was choosing for a history project and grabbed a binder from his backpack as he pushed his door open with his foot, then immediately dropped everything on the ground.

The unmistakable form of Terushima was sprawled on his stomach across Shirabu’s bed, the blankets tossed in a heap on the floor and the pillows mashed in weird forms to accommodate Terushima’s haphazard position.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Shirabu said loudly and firmly.

Terushima opened one eye and smiled, propping himself up on one elbow. “You’re home!”

“No shit. What are you doing in my bed?”

“Taking a nap. It’s a comfortable bed!”

“How did you even get in my house?”

Terushima shrugged and sat fully upright. “Your mom said I could stay for dinner.”

Shirabu blinked. “Leave.”

Terushima donned a mock-offended expression. “Shirabu, that would be so rude! I already accepted the invitation.”

After ten minutes, Shirabu gave up arguing and grabbed his belongings that he’d dropped on the floor. “I need to do homework. Don’t bother me.”

Terushima stood behind the desk chair as Shirabu sat down and flipped open his laptop, determined to ignore the nuisance behind him.

Terushima grabbed at the chocolate bar before Shirabu could slap his hand away.

“Could you not??”

“You’re gonna get fat if you eat this, Shirabu. I’m a gracious person so I’ll eat it instead.”

Shirabu grabbed for the candy and gasped as he almost tipped his chair over. Terushima snickered and munched the chocolate bar happily, enraging Shirabu even more by taking bites out of it instead of breaking in into the individual squares.

 

Shirabu did his best to ignore Terushima, but dinner was a nightmare in and of itself. Terushima kept up a polite but animated and exciting conversation with Shirabu’s parents, keeping Shirabu stuck at the table long after he was done eating and wanting to go do something productive.

When Terushima finally left, happily waving to all the members of the family, it was dark outside and Shirabu was honestly too tired and annoyed to care about much. He had volleyball practice in the morning the next day and could do homework in the afternoon. He didn’t even bother changing out of the comfortable clothes he’d put on after school before flopping down on his bed.

He spent an ungodly amount of time trying to fix his nest, rearranging the pillows and blankets that Terushima had thrown about. It still seemed a little off, but Shirabu finally gave up and drifted off to sleep. 

 

Shirabu ran a hand through his hair and blinked tiredly. He wanted to be a little early to morning practice today; there were a couple balls that needed to be reinflated. Shirabu winced at the squeak in his closet door. He’d need to oil the hinge one of these days. He reached out for the hanger where his practice clothes would be, but there was nothing. The entire closet was bare. Shirabu couldn’t move for several seconds. There was no other logical explanation for this. _Terushima was here yesterday. It’s probably his fault. _Shirabu looked into the closet again. Tucked into the back, there was one hanger that wasn’t empty. Shirabu grabbed it hopefully, but his heart immediately sunk into his stomach. Folded over the hanger were a pair of red shorts and an indigo and green tie-dye t-shirt. Both were at least one size too large, both were obviously Terushima’s.__

__Shirabu stood in the closet for upwards of five minutes, pondering what he could do. He needed to leave for practice in fifteen minutes and he had no clothes other than Terushima’s which he was _absolutely not wearing _. He checked everywhere he could think, his laundry basket, the wash machine; everything he owned was gone. In a last-ditch effort, he ran down to the basement, wondering if there could possibly be any of his own clothing stored away somewhere. He searched through several boxes before coming to the best option he had.___ _

____The box was full of his clothes from his late junior high days, horrendous fashion choices in comparison to what he had now, but it was still better than anything that Terushima had. He pulled out some dark blue shorts and a gray t-shirt, inspecting them for any damage. The only concern was if he would be able to fit into his old clothing._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____Shirabu stared at himself in the mirror. The shorts were impossibly tight around his hips and cut off several centimeters higher than what he was really comfortable with. But they would do. The shirt was about the same, uncomfortably snug all around and a little short to boot. But it was this or Terushima’s clothing. He couldn’t give in so easily. By wearing Terushima’s stuff, he was admitting defeat, something he’d never allow._ _ _ _

____There was little time left for breakfast so he snagged an energy bar before racing out the door._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____As the members of the volleyball club trickled in the door for the morning, Shirabu could feel the eyes on him. The satisfaction of outsmarting Terushima was rapidly starting to fade into self-consciousness. _Damn you, Terushima. _____ _ _

______Washijou was eyeing him with particular malice from his spot, leaning against the wall._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Shirabu, I trust you considered how well you’ll be able to play when you dressed this morning?” the old man asked._ _ _ _ _ _

______Shirabu blushed fiercely. “Yes, sir.” _Well... _____ _ _ _ _

________Washijou glared. “Stretching. Get to it.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Shirabu struggled mightily through stretches, unable to make himself bend the way he normally could with the cramped clothing restricting his movements. The sleeves of his shirt were starting to cut off the circulation to his arms. He shook them out whenever he saw his coach look away, unwilling to declare weakness. On many occasions, he had to pull the hem of his shorts down to keep from revealing too much._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________As they started to move to warm up passes, one of the third years on the team was snickering at him. “Who are you trying to impress, Shirabu?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Shirabu blushed. “No one... It’s all I had that was clean...”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Through the various warm-ups Shirabu focused on trying to play as normally as possible to get the others’ attention off of him, but he was having a hard time, both with not paying attention to the quiet laughs and comments and playing normally when he couldn’t move his arms. At one point he tossed the ball to a spiker and felt the seam of a sleeve crackle and rip. He wondered if it would be a better idea to just forcefully tear both the sleeves off so he could move._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________They transitioned into playing practice matches against each other. Every time Shirabu rotated to the vanguard, someone from the back line would reach forward and slap his ass or tug on his shorts. They were quick about it and by the time Shirabu turned around, all three were standing still, grinning at him. He would glare and try to focus back on the game._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________All in all, Shirabu was able to maintain an air of control despite the conditions. He glanced at the clock, noting that there was only an hour of practice left, then he could so pummel Terushima into the ground. Shirabu looked up suddenly as a ball flew ever so slightly to the left of him. Instinct and muscle memory taking over, Shirabu leaned sideways to receive the ball, feeling the strain against his poor clothing decisions, then suddenly, he was released. The sound of his shorts tearing was slightly masked by the ball hitting his arms. But not all that much. They finished the play and his team got the point, but the others were audibly laughing as Shirabu started to back off the court, attempting to cover the ripped seam._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Goshiki graciously joined him and walked behind him, shielding him from the other players’ laughter and Washijou’s glare of annoyance._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“To the locker room. I have some clothes you can borrow,” Goshiki said quietly in Shirabu’s ear._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Shirabu nodded and headed straight there, staring directly ahead, his face bright red._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Goshiki handed his captain a pair of black shorts and a magenta t-shirt out of his locker._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Thank you...” Shirabu said quietly, removing his tight, torn clothing with difficulty._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Goshiki’s expression was one caught between confusion and sympathy. “What’s going on? You’ve been weird lately.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Shirabu sighed, throwing Goshiki’s clothes on. They were baggy on his smaller frame. Ultimately, Terushima’s clothes probably would have fit him better. “Remember Johzenji’s captain? He stole all of my clothes. All of them.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Goshiki giggled as they walked back out into the gym._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Don’t tell anybody else,” Shirabu grumbled._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Goshiki nodded his head but Shirabu wasn’t confident about this._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The rest of practice went off without a hitch, save for a few scattered teasing remarks which Shirabu brushed off. The minute they were released for the day, Shirabu hopped on a bus to Terushima’s house. During the ride he fiddled with the loose material of Goshiki’s shirt and rehearsed what he would do when he got there. He would ring the doorbell; if Terushima answered, he’d grab the hideous clothes from his bag and fling them in his face. If it was someone else from his family he’d be the picture of polite until he found his nemesis. Then all hell would break loose._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Shirabu confidently rang the doorbell and as the door opened a second later, Shirabu recognized the shock of blond hair. He reached into his bag and had the wad of clothing halfway out before the door was fully open and Shirabu froze._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Terushima was grinning down at him. Shirabu felt his jaw drop._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“W-what are you doing...” Shirabu’s mouth had gone dry._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Terushima stood in front of him, his hands casually in the pockets of a pair of white and purple shorts. They were slightly snug, but not to an uncomfortable level. On top, he wore a white t-shirt with “Shiratorizawa VBC” printed across the chest. This too was a little tight on him, but only to the point that it accentuated the muscles hidden beneath the material. “Aww, Shirabu, you aren’t wearing the clothes I loaned you! It would’ve been funny if we switched because you’re tiny!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Shirabu’s fist slammed into Terushima’s chest and he stumbled backwards, still managing to laugh._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Take them off,” Shirabu growled._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Terushima winked and gave him a sly grin. “I didn’t realize that this was all it took, Shirabu. I didn’t realize you had a ‘boyfriend clothes’ kink.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Shirabu felt his cheeks heat up as he took a step forward, ready to punch Terushima again if needed. “Give me back my clothes, Terushima. Except for what you have on. I don’t want that back, but never wear it again. Burn it.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Alright, alright, you win. Come upstairs, let me get your stuff for you.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________To Shirabu’s horror, Terushima had all of the clothing together in one drawer and he had to sort through all of his clothes to pick out Shirabu’s. And even worse, everything was folded. Shirabu hated creases in his clothing and hated Terushima for not hanging his clothing like a barbarian._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Shirabu sighed as he headed back toward the front door, finally with all of his clothing back in his arms, an inconvenient load to carry, but he didn’t have much choice. “Why do you hate me?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Terushima grinned and opened the door for Shirabu. “I don’t. I just think it’s nice to share every once in a while.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Shirabu groaned softly and stepped out onto the sidewalk. One shirt from the top of the pile slipped to the ground. It would be a royal pain in the ass to try and pick it up with his arms full of other clothes. Shirabu glanced back at Terushima who hadn’t closed the door yet. “Hey, do you mind giving me a hand here?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Mm... I could... But you don’t know how to share so why should I?” And with that, Terushima disappeared inside and closed the door._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Shirabu stared at the shirt on the ground, wondering how to possibly pick it up without dropping the rest of the load. Eventually he just left it and went on his way without it, muttering curses at Terushima the entire way home._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no words for this one. I'm sorry...


	6. Therapy Couch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day spent in Tokyo turns out unexpectedly angsty

Shirabu had been skeptical about this outing at first, but Tokyo was a very pretty city and everyone was more-or-less excited to be together. As the six strolled along the streets, they defaulted to a formation that kept Terushima as far away from Shirabu as possible. It was better for all of them. Akaashi showed them one of his favorite places to eat for lunch. Terushima managed to make fun of Shirabu for ordering spaghetti and Ennoshita and Futakuchi had to hold Shirabu down to keep him from climbing over the table to strangle Terushima, though two water glasses were tipped over anyway. The waiter looked slightly terrified the whole time he was by their table. They made sure to apologize many times. On their way out, Futakuchi found a broom leaning against the wall and smacked Yahaba with it, unnerving a few other diners. Ennoshita ran and apologized to their waiter once more.

They perused a few shops, Yahaba purchasing a hoodie and Shirabu buying a snapback, and then took over a playground. The six chatted and hung out there for a while before the Miyagi kids needed to hop on the train back home.

Ennoshita hopped off the jungle gym, glancing at his watch. “Thanks again for inviting us down to Tokyo, Akaashi.”

“You’re welcome.”

Futakuchi slid down a slide that was clearly not made for a 185cm boy. “We should come down here more often. Maybe next time we can go to your house, Akaashi!”

Akaashi glanced in the direction of his house, only a few blocks away. “Uh, sure. Maybe.”

Yahaba laughed. “It’s okay, Akaashi, I wouldn’t want us in my house either. I think we’re all officially banned from Shirabu’s place.”

Shirabu glared, dismounting the swingset. “You know it.”

Futakuchi snickered. “Yahaba, that’d be your fault. You were the one who broke his broom last time we were there.”

“Who’s fault was it _really _?” Yahaba put his hands on his hips.__

__“It was all yours! Don’t try to pin this on me!”_ _

__Shirabu drowned out the argument as Terushima jumped off the structure and strolled over to him._ _

__“Takes you back, playing at the park like this, doesn’t it?”_ _

__Shirabu huffed. “Sure, whatever. I’m sure it hasn’t been all that long for you, has it.”_ _

__Terushima smirked. “Hey, I like a good see-saw every now and then.”_ _

__Shirabu snickered. “You’re such a kid. See-saws are lame. Also, how would you use one? Don’t you need friends for those to work?”_ _

__Terushima smacked Shirabu playfully. “Rude. What was your favorite thing at the playground as a kid?”_ _

__“In grade school, my friends and I would race to the top of the jungle gym. It was always just us guys and the girls would watch and cheer us on.”_ _

__Terushima scoffed. “Sorry you never won.”_ _

__Shirabu folded his arms. “I did too win. I won lots of times.”_ _

__“No you didn’t. Don’t lie to me.”_ _

__“I did! I was good at it!”_ _

__“There’s no way you’ve ever been big enough to be good at stuff like that.”_ _

__Shirabu grinned smugly. “Actually, I was small in elementary school but it was to my advantage. See, if you’ve got long legs and arms, they get in the way of your climbing. And I was fast so I won a lot.”_ _

__Terushima was laughing. “Oh suuure. Race me if you’re so good.”_ _

__Shirabu glanced behind them at the playground they were leaving behind and the complex jungle gym structure. “Terushima, we’re not six years old. We have to get back to the train station.”_ _

__Terushima plucked the hat off Shirabu’s head and Frisbee-tossed it at the playground. “Well, you’ve gotta go back for that anyway. So.”_ _

__Shirabu glared. “Alright, you’re on. Ready... Set...”_ _

__Ennoshita happened to look back at them as they got into stance to sprint back to the playground. “Wait, guys! What are you—”_ _

__“Go!” Shirabu screamed._ _

__Shirabu took the lead right off the bat, smugly grinning as Terushima fell into step behind him. Shirabu took the most direct route to the top when he reached the bottom of the play structure. He expected Terushima to take a different path to try to win, but the other teen stayed directly behind him._ _

__“Oi, Terushima! What are you doing? You can’t win if you’re behind me!”_ _

__Terushima laughed “I don’t care!”_ _

__“Terushima! Take this seriously!”_ _

__“Take this seriously? We’re racing to the top of a playground, have some maturity!”_ _

__“You challenged me, you can’t cop out! You have some maturity!”_ _

__“How can I possibly be mature, your ass is right in front of my face.”_ _

__Shirabu had contemplated stopping but Terushima shoved his shoulder against Shirabu’s butt, pushing him forward. Shirabu jumped slightly and climbed faster._ _

__“Terushima, don’t do that!”_ _

__Terushima had stopped climbing and laughed as he grabbed Shirabu’s shoe, boosting him further up. “Climb, Shirabu, climb!”_ _

__“Terushima I said stop! Don’t touch—” Shirabu felt his other foot slip on the metal bar of the jungle gym and before he had time to react, his face smacked against the play structure and he was falling._ _

__He landed flat on his back in the wood chips._ _

__Terushima hopped down and offered his hand. “Sorry, I—”_ _

__Shirabu sat up and slapped Terushima’s hand away indignantly._ _

__The others had jogged back over and were crowding around worriedly._ _

__Shirabu inhaled, trying to get his breath back and waved them away. “I’m okay, I’m okay.” He rubbed his hand across his face, then blinked in horror as his fist came away smeared with red. His stomach roiled at the sight and he felt lightheaded. “I’m going to pass out...” he whispered._ _

__Ennoshita squatted down and looked over Shirabu’s face worriedly. “Your nose is bleeding. Not badly though. It’s not broken or anything. You’re going to be okay.”_ _

__Shirabu put his hand back over his nose and squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m going to be sick, I don’t like blood!”_ _

__Akaashi heaved a sigh. “You guys get to the train station before you miss it. Shirabu, you can come to my house for a little bit until your nose stops bleeding. There’s another train in an hour.”_ _

__The others nodded, thanked Akaashi, bade him and Shirabu goodbye and headed back in the direction of the station._ _

__Akaashi hauled Shirabu to his feet and led him back to a cozy-looking white house not too far from the park._ _

__

__Shirabu’s nose had long since stopped bleeding but he shut himself in the bathroom for a while to get cleaned up._ _

__Upon exiting, Akaashi handed Shirabu his hat that Terushima had thrown._ _

__Shirabu smiled and thanked Akaashi._ _

__“Can I get you anything to drink?” Akaashi offered_ _

__“Just some water would be great, thank you.” Shirabu followed Akaashi into the kitchen._ _

__“How’s your face?”_ _

__“Still intact... I thought Terushima and I were almost having a normal conversation there for a second... I just don’t get it...”_ _

__Akaashi bit his lip and handed Shirabu the glass of water. “Um, do you want to... talk about it?”_ _

__Shirabu stretched himself out across the couch in the living room. “Like a therapy session!”_ _

__Akaashi sighed and sat down in a chair, looking bored. “The first step is admitting you have a problem.”_ _

__Shirabu groaned. “I know I have a problem!”_ _

__“And how does that make you feel.”_ _

__“Akaashi, take this seriously!”_ _

__Akaashi heaved another sigh. “Tell me about Terushima.”_ _

__Shirabu laced his fingers behind his head and watched the ceiling fan spin lazily. “I don’t much care for him. He makes me mad.”_ _

__“Is it because he teases you? I suggest you grow a pair.”_ _

__Shirabu glared. “It’s not that. It’s just banter. Everyone else does it too and I’m not bothered. It’s just something about _him _specifically. Just an air about him that annoys me.”___ _

____“How would you describe this ‘air’? Shout out some adjectives.”_ _ _ _

____“Um... busy, unsettled, dangerous, unstable, um, chaotic. Chaotic is how I would describe it.”_ _ _ _

____“And you don’t like the chaos. Why do you think him being chaotic makes you angry?”_ _ _ _

____“Because I like things to be in place. It ticks me off how he’s always everywhere and making a mess.”_ _ _ _

____“You’re afraid of chaos.”_ _ _ _

____“I’m not scared of him!” Shirabu snapped._ _ _ _

____Akaashi put up a hand gently. “Not him, chaos. You’re an organized person. That’s why you’re such an accurate setter and get good grades and do things the way you do. Things make sense to you when they’re in the right place. When Terushima is around, things become less predictable. You lose control and that freaks you out subconsciously. I’m a little bit the same way so I understand where you’re coming from. Out of everyone in our group, Terushima is the one who sets me on edge the most.”_ _ _ _

____“But you don’t lose your cool. How do you do it? I mean, besides the fact that you’re Akaashi Keiji and nothing fazes you.”_ _ _ _

____A ghost of a smile passed over Akaashi’s face. “I’ve had a lot of training with chaos. The last two years with Bokuto... It was something else... It takes a little time, but you stop being bothered and you pick up on patterns within the chaos. And when things make sense, it gets easier to deal with. Then you become friends.”_ _ _ _

____Shirabu smiled slightly at the nostalgic look on Akaashi’s face. “I can tell he makes you really happy. When was the last time you hung out with Bokuto?”_ _ _ _

____Akaashi’s expression clouded over instantly. “A couple weeks ago. But things are different now. He’s not the same as he was.”_ _ _ _

____“What do you mean?”_ _ _ _

____“He... darkened after what happened with Nekoma. He’s not as carefree anymore. Two years ago I never would’ve thought I’d be saying this, but I miss his chaos.”_ _ _ _

____“Were you guys there... when it happened?” Shirabu looked up from the couch._ _ _ _

____Akaashi nodded silently._ _ _ _

____“Did they ever figure it out?”_ _ _ _

____“...Not really. It’s been a rough year for them... I haven’t talked to anyone there for a while.”_ _ _ _

____“Talked to Kuroo?”_ _ _ _

____“No. Nobody’s talked to Kuroo, not even Bokuto. We’ve tried texting, but he doesn’t reply ever unless you ask ‘are you still alive?’ and he’ll say ‘yes’ but won’t say anything beyond that. Bokuto checks up on him like that every day, but nothing else has happened.”_ _ _ _

____“It was really bad, huh. Do you want to talk about it?”_ _ _ _

____Akaashi exhaled deeply. He didn’t really want to drag all that back up, but he’d kept it inside for so long. “So... It wasn’t really a new thing, Kuroo had been struggling to pick someone to be the new captain for months, probably since the first moment it crossed his mind. It was a couple days before graduation and Bokuto texted Kuroo asking when the deadline for picking the new captain was and Kuroo said it was tomorrow so the next day Bokuto said that he and I were going to go to Nekoma to support Kuroo and celebrate with whoever the new captain was going to be. But we got there and we went into the gym and Kuroo was talking to the team. All I heard him say was, ‘It was an impossible decision to pick who would take over for me and trust me, I’ve lost plenty of sleep thinking about this, and... and I can’t do it.’ Then he was crying and he ran out of the gym... Bokuto went after him, but I haven’t seen Kuroo since. I... I didn’t realize it had been _that _stressful for him. Kenma, Yamamoto, and Fukunaga were all really strong choices and I would’ve had trouble too. Kuroo never went back or said anything to his players so all three are just acting as co-captains but there are no official titles. It’s really impacted the team’s morale.”___ _ _ _

______“Are they going to make it to nationals this year?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Who knows. I hope they can find a way to manage.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Shirabu was quiet for a few seconds, then sat up quickly. “I’m privileged to have a team as cohesive as I do. I’m not going to let them down again because of my petty issues. I need to learn how to get along with Terushima.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Akaashi looked skeptical. “Are you really willing to make an effort?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“I am. What kinds of things should I try?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“I was going to suggest you try actually winning an argument against him, but that’ll never happen.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Akaashi!”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Try not getting mad when he says mean things to you. If you don’t react, he’ll get bored and leave you alone.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Alright... Maybe I’ll try to meet up with him sometime. Maybe sometime next week.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Akaashi considered. “Okay, but be careful. It’s supposed to rain next week._ _ _ _ _ _

______“What’s that supposed to mean?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Akaashi shrugged and stood up. “Are we done here?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“I think so.” Shirabu stood up from the couch. “Thanks, Akaashi.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Akaashi nodded silently and led them out of the room._ _ _ _ _ _


	7. The Bath Bomb Incident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Terushima dubs it the Bath Bomb Incident™ but Shirabu dubs it Death™. Like everything else. THEY'RE SO DUMB I LOVE IT "  
>  -starlity

Shirabu was sprinting after the devious perpetrator like there was no tomorrow. They had been stuck inside Terushima’s house while it rained, but now Shirabu was going to get his revenge. Terushima was ahead of him and laughing, and once again, Shirabu cursed his shorter legs. He rounded the corner of the house much tighter than Terushima had in order to get ahead when he felt the damp, muddy ground slide underneath his feet.

The impact jarred him and left him breathless for an instant, but when he opened his eyes, he wished he could just close them again and disappear. Terushima was laughing hysterically, but came over to help him up regardless. Shirabu put his filthy hand into Terushima’s and groaned as he got to his feet and looked himself over. The front of his shirt and jeans were almost exclusively blackish-brown. There was mud in his hair and smeared across his cheek. Shirabu didn’t even know what to do or say, he just stood there, breathing and looking at himself.

“It’s okay, man. Come on inside. You can take a bath.”

Shirabu was caught between “Thank you, please let me soak for an hour; I am so disgusting right now and I hate it!” and “Absolutely not, I refuse to take a bath in your house!” he stood in silent internal turmoil. He was many kilometers from his house. It would take hours to walk home and he’d doubtless get some weird looks along the way, and there was no way he could take the bus looking like this.

“...Okay... Thanks...”

 

Ten minutes later, Shirabu had removed his shoes and socks and rolled up his pants so as not to get any muck on the floor (he assumed these barbarians wouldn’t mind either way, but Shirabu was a gentleman through and through). Terushima’s bathroom was a decent size, as was the bathtub, though obviously not as big as his. Terushima had grabbed a set of his own clothes for Shirabu to change into and he set them on the counter neatly.

“Take your time. You can just dump your clothes on the floor, I’ll take care of things.” Terushima said, heading back to the door.

Shirabu exhaled strongly. Maybe when it came down to it, Terushima wasn’t such a bad dude after all. Maybe when you needed him, he’d do you a favor or two. “Thanks again.”

Shirabu ran the hot water 3/4 of the way to the top of the tub then peeled his damp, dirty clothing off his skin and tossed the garments to the floor. He eased into the welcoming warmth of the bath and smiled to himself. Yeah, this was good. He’d just gotten into a comfortable position when suddenly there was a thunderously loud knock on the door.

“Shirabu, I’m coming in!”

Shirabu panicked and scrambled to stand up and throw a towel around his waist just as Terushima threw the door open.

“What the hell are you doing!?” Shirabu screamed, feeling _just slightly _embarrassed.__

__Terushima rolled his eyes and put up his hands in defense. “I came to grab your clothes to throw them in the wash. Gosh, sorry for trying to help out.”_ _

__Shirabu kept his hands planted firmly on the towel and glared. Technically, Terushima had done nothing wrong. “A little bit more warning would’ve helped.”_ _

__Terushima winked. “Just testing your reflex speed. Hey, do you want a bath bomb?” His hand suddenly darted out across the tub, coming dangerously close to Shirabu’s exposed legs, the hastily-applied towel not covering much more than necessary._ _

__“Um, no, that’s okay, Terushima!” Shirabu said quickly, the other teen already reaching into a bucket of red and orange colored spheres._ _

__Shirabu could’ve sworn Terushima smirked, and suddenly, the entire bucket-full of bath bombs were in the water, fizzing and turning it a rosy color._ _

__Shirabu blanched as he stared at the rapidly dissolving orbs. “Dude... There were like twenty bath bombs in there...”_ _

__Terushima put his hands on his hips casually and looked into the water as well. “I’d say more than twenty.”_ _

__Shirabu’s shoulders sagged as he looked into the mess swirling around his calves. “...But what do I do..?”_ _

__Terushima grinned widely and slapped Shirabu’s back, making him flinch. “They’re bath bombs. They’re supposed to be enjoyable. Just roll with it!”_ _

__And with that, Terushima scooped up Shirabu’s dirty clothes and vanished from the room, closing the door quite loudly on his way out. Shirabu stayed standing for a few minutes, just watching the excessive amount of baking soda, citric acid and epsom salt pollute the water. Eventually, he tossed the towel to the side again and lowered himself back into the tub. _This is even more disgusting than the mud... _____

____ _ _

____Shirabu’s bath was shorter than he would’ve liked, but the water was hardly even in a liquid state anymore because of the bath bombs. He climbed out and wiped the sudsy, filmy residue off his skin. And then there was the next little problem. He considered the small pile of clothes left for him on the counter. There wasn’t really a choice, but... He didn’t want to wear Terushima’s clothes._ _ _ _

____He wrinkled his nose and rooted through the stack, cataloguing the presence of a bright orange t-shirt, some yellow basketball shorts, and a pair of gray boxers. Shirabu glanced at the floor where he’d discarded his clothes before Terushima had taken them, _Damn it, why did you take my underwear, you bastard. They weren’t dirty. _He looked back at the boxers.___ _ _ _

______Shirabu tied his towel firmly around his hips and opened the door a crack. “Terushima? Did you already throw my stuff in the wash?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______There was no response so Shirabu took a few hesitant steps into the hallway. “Terushima?” He huffed a sigh. _Typical. _____ _ _ _ _

________After searching the upstairs and coming up empty, Shirabu started toward the stairs. He wasn’t keen on walking around practically naked, but he either needed to find Terushima or the laundry room. That or have to wear Terushima’s undergarments. Shirabu bit his lip and went for it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The laundry room was easy enough to find, but when he saw the washer, he stopped short. The door was open and water dotted the floor. He checked just to be sure and yes, it was empty. Just then the sound of a door opening reached his ears. He peered around the corner and saw that the front door was standing open and Terushima’s shoes were missing from the entryway. Shirabu didn’t even have to look to know that there would be a trail of water drops leading to the door._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Damn it! Terushima please! Wait!” He sprinted toward the door, hoping to be able to catch Terushima before he could do any damage. The second his bare feet hit the front step, there was a rush of air behind him. Shirabu whirled around to catch only a glimpse of Terushima’s signature grin before the door slammed shut._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Reality took a few seconds to sink in. Shirabu slammed his hand against the door and desperately tried to open it, but it was locked. He pressed himself against the wall under the covered porch and frantically looked around in all directions. There didn’t appear to be any neighbors watching, but that didn’t excuse the fact that he was locked outside wearing nothing but a towel. Shirabu leaned his head against the door, adjusting his towel tighter around him. “Terushima, please, whatever I did to make you hate me, I’m sorry... Please let me in. I want my clothes!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Shirabu!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Shirabu glanced around. The call sounded like it was coming from above him, but there was a ceiling over the step. “Where are you?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Upstairs. Go further out and you’ll be able to see me.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Shirabu backed further against the wall. “No thanks...”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I have something you want!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Shirabu said a hundred curse words in his head, readjusted his towel and stepped out from under the awning._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Terushima was leaning slightly out of a second story window, his elbows propped on the windowsill. His sly grin made Shirabu blush slightly. “That’s a nice look for you.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Shirabu reddened yet more and glanced behind him again at the surrounding houses. “Give me my clothes, Terushima!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“They’re back in the wash. I loaned some to you, remember?” Terushima shrugged and sent the change of clothing he’d loaned Shirabu tumbling out the window to the ground._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Shirabu watched as they hit the sidewalk. Then he looked up again. “You can’t be serious right now.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Terushima laughed. It wasn’t a sound of malice, just pure amusement. He wasn’t doing this for the sake of embarrassment, just his own temporary enjoyment. That made Shirabu even more annoyed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He glared up at Terushima, but slid the boxers on underneath his towel then followed with the shorts and the shirt, both of which were significantly loose on his smaller frame. “Alright, I put on your stupid clothes. Can I come in now?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Terushima shrugged. “The back door’s unlocked.” With that, he disappeared from the window._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Shirabu scowled, flung the towel on the ground, too pissed off to care anymore and headed for the side of the house. A tall wooden fence blocked his way into the backyard. Shirabu hiked the shorts up and scrambled over the fence, the loose fabric of the t-shirt making it difficult, and he landed on his back on the gravel, wincing. The back door was in fact unlocked, and he stepped inside to find Terushima casually sitting at the kitchen table, one leg folded over the other, sipping a glass of juice._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Hey.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Shirabu glared wordlessly and stomped into the kitchen._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Terushima grinned provocatively, anticipating the screaming to come._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Instead, Shirabu grabbed an unoccupied chair and stalked back to the laundry room, slammed the door, shoved the chair under the doorknob and sat down on the floor to wait for his clothes to be done. He could faintly hear Terushima laugh from outside, but he didn’t much care. Shirabu fumed for the next hour as he moved his clothes to the dryer after the cycle, then changed back into his own garments._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Finally emerging Shirabu let a faint smile play across his lips. Terushima, who had taken to a couch in the living room, looked up and immediately frowned, noticing the expression on his rival’s face. “Are you okay, Shirabu? Did you finally go off the deep end?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Shirabu chuckled and headed for the door. “Don’t think this will go forgotten, Terushima.” Shirabu didn’t pause or deviate from his path to the front door even as Terushima sprang up and followed him the whole three blocks to the bus stop, non-stop asking questions and uttering a few apologies. All in all, he didn’t look that nervous, just kind of confused, but Shirabu was willing to take that over the usual smug glee._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The bus pulled to the curb. Shirabu smiled one last time before climbing aboard. “Bye, Terushima.” Then he leaned in closer and whispered. “I’ll see you in hell.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	8. Paradise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shirabu is not a happy camper.

Shirabu dug the palms of his hands into his eyes, willing himself to wake up a little more. It was just before four in the morning and he’d signed himself up for a field trip to hell. After admitting to Akaashi that he would be happier if he were able to get along with Terushima, the others had started setting up a three-day excursion to the coast where Yahaba’s uncle owned a beach house.

Shirabu had hesitantly agreed to this plan, knowing that it entailed spending 72 hours with Terushima. Maybe the forced conditions would help them settle their differences, he’d just have to wait and see. What he couldn’t figure out was why Yahaba had said that they needed to leave so damn early in the morning for this.

He yawned again, then pulled his duffel bag over his shoulder and stepped silently through the door as he heard a car pull up outside.

Yahaba popped open the trunk of the gray crossover so Shirabu could throw his bag in.

“Morning, Shirabu. Hey listen, can I borrow your broom for a minute? Futakuchi’s sleeping in the car so now’s my only opportunity for revenge!”

Shirabu wasn’t entirely sure what he was talking about. “Um, sorry, you guys broke my broom last time you were here, in case you forgot, so it got thrown away...”

Shirabu had never heard Yahaba utter such a long string of swear words. Especially at four in the morning.

 

Yahaba’s mom’s silver crossover that had been borrowed for this expedition had three rows of seating, two seats in the front, then two rows of three behind that. Futakuchi was riding shotgun to Yahaba, though he was, indeed, passed out against the window. The middle row was taken up by Akaashi, squeezed against the far wall and Ennoshita, snoozing lightly, sprawled across the bench with his head on Akaashi’s leg. Akaashi looked like he’d rather be anywhere else. Shirabu sighed and climbed over the sleeping crow captain to the back seat, where someone with far too much energy for the pre-dawn hour was waving excitedly at him.

“I don’t suppose you plan on letting me nap during this car trip, do you,” he asked dryly.

“Why would you want to?” Terushima answered. “You’d miss all the scenery we’ll pass!”

“Oh no, what a tragedy,” Shirabu responded, voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Don’t be such a kill-joy. The ride isn’t even that long.”

Shirabu huffed another sigh and buckled himself in.

“You do know that the law says that if you’re over the age of 16, you don’t have to wear a seatbelt if you’re in the back seat.”

“Please let us get in an accident, please let us get in an accident, please let us get in an accident...”

Terushima grinned and punched Shirabu’s shoulder. “You’re probably small enough for a child booster seat though, aren’t ya?”

Shirabu slammed his hand against the leather seat. “I’M DONE. YAHABA PULL THE CAR OVER. I’M GETTING OUT, YOU CAN’T FORCE ME INTO THIS. I’M GOING BACK HOME.”

Yahaba glared through the rear-view mirror as he pulled away from the curb. “Shh! Stop screaming. You’re gonna wake Futakuchi up and if he wakes up, he’s going to want to change the radio station.”

Shirabu looked around. Ennoshita was still sleeping, Akaashi still looked like like he would welcome an early death, and Terushima was still grinning at him. Shirabu submitted to his fate and sunk back into the seat.

 

The car trip only lasted an hour, but it was an hour spent listening to Yahaba and Futakuchi (who did eventually wake up) bicker about the radio station, Ennoshita softly snoring, and Terushima attempting to play I Spy or point out the hazy outline of some tree that “can grow to be over 50 meters tall! Isn’t that crazy, Shirabu!?” So basically, Shirabu didn’t have high hopes for this excursion.

They pulled into a small dirt parking area on a small cliff only a stone’s throw from the coast and Yahaba shooed everyone out of the car.

“What are we doing here?” Ennoshita yawned.

Yahaba ran to sit down on the edge of the cliff. “Just come on, guys! it’s almost time!”

Shirabu cautiously sat down next to Yahaba, legs dangling over the edge.

Terushima grabbed Shirabu by the shoulders and pretended to push him off the edge. Shirabu smacked Terushima’s leg, hoping that no one had noticed him jump slightly.

“Sit down, damn it!”

Terushima chuckled and plopped down next to Shirabu.

Shirabu blinked. “No, not there. Sit somewhere else.”

Terushima sighed and moved to the other side of Yahaba.

The others gradually came to sit along the cliff. The six sat in silence as the sky turned pink and orange and the sun appeared from the watery horizon. Twenty minutes passed and the glowing ball had risen a good distance above the water before anyone spoke.

“That was a nice sunrise, Yahaba. Thanks for showing us this,” Akaashi said softly.

“You’re welcome. “Yahaba smiled. “In contrast to all fighting we do, I wanted us to have this moment.

Futakuchi burst out laughing and smacked Yahaba from his spot on the other side of Shirabu. “Dude, you’re such a sap!”

Yahaba grinned slightly and stood up. “Terushima, Shirabu, can I borrow you both for a minute?”

The two stood and followed after Yahaba back to the car where they grabbed their respective luggage and their arms were loaded full of coolers and canvas bags. Yahaba led them down a small wood staircase to the beach where there was a small shack on stilts. Shirabu wasn’t an architect, but he thought it looked a little tight for all of them, but he figured they’d be spending a good portion of their time outside anyway.

That was before they stepped inside.

 

Yahaba swung the door open and Shirabu almost dropped the bags he was carrying. The “cabin” if you could even call it that was a tiny one-room space furnished with one full bed, several bookshelves, a small table with three chairs and an actual wood-burning stove in the corner. It was tidy, but everything seemed to be covered in a fine layer of sand and dust.

Terushima slammed the two coolers he was carrying down on the table and flung his personal backpack onto the bed. “This place is so cute! I love it! It’s so little!”

Shirabu put his bags down on the floor a bit more gently. “Yahaba... Does this place have electricity?”

Yahaba smiled. “Nope. No electricity, no running water—there’s an outhouse out back—no TV, no microwave. Just books and the beach and good company.”

Shirabu’s mouth was going dry as he watched Terushima stretch out across the bed. His voice turned into a harsh whisper. “There’s only one bed...”

“Well obviously!” Yahaba put a hand on his hip. “My uncle stays here alone, no need for more than that.”

“Why would anybody want this...”

Yahaba shrugged, then set down the bag he’d carried in. “He likes to disconnect from the hustle and bustle of the city now and then. Anyway, there’s water in the coolers Terushima had, food in those bags, extra sunscreen and some card games in here, wood for the stove is against the side of the house, look out for spiders with light green marks on their backs because they will kill you. I think that’s all. Have fun, guys.”

“W-wait, where are you going?”

Yahaba laughed. “The rest of us are staying in a hotel. See you both in three days!” And with that, Yahaba disappeared through the front door.

 

Shirabu couldn’t move for a full minute.

“Hey, you should stop just standing by the door and come help me. We can have breakfast!”

“D-did you know about this?”

“About what?”

“That you and I were going to be sharing this tiny shack with spiders and no electricity for three days while the others are in a hotel?”

“Oh, yeah, Yahaba mentioned something like that.”

Shirabu sank to his knees and buried his face in his hands. “This is not happening,” he moaned.

Terushima rolled his eyes and reached for the bags of food. “Do you want a Poptart, or some cereal for breakfast?”

Shirabu snapped his head up and snatched a bag away from Terushima. “No... It’s important to have protein in the morning. What else is there?”

Terushima rifled through the other bag. “There’s a can of baked beans in here...?”

Shirabu looked harder into his own bag and Terushima’s. There were crackers, beef jerky, cereal, individual cups of pudding, applesauce, and other fruits, cans of soup, beans, and spaghetti, bags of trail mix and fruit snacks, two jars of peanut butter, some boxed pasta dishes, canned fruit, macaroni and cheese, chips, juice boxes, Pop tarts, canned tuna, and some plastic silverware and dishes.

Terushima eagerly grabbed for the box of Poptarts; Shirabu hesitantly picked up a plastic spoon and one of the jars of peanut butter.

Terushima laughed as Shirabu jammed a wad of the spread into his mouth and stood up.

“I’m going outside. Don’t follow me,” Shirabu mumbled around the spoon.

 

He surveyed the immediate area around the cabin; sand on either side of him as far as he could see, ahead of him, nothing but water. He wondered if he could swim across the Pacific Ocean to escape. Probably not. Yahaba’s car was long gone and he had no idea where the four were headed. He could hitchhike to the next city. But that would defeat the purpose of coming here to settle his dispute with Terushima. He was going to make nice with the other captain or die trying. He sighed and shut his phone off, knowing it wouldn’t last three days without being charged, then stepped back inside.

“Hey, Terushima, I’m thinking of going swimming in the ocean. Care to join me?”

Terushima beamed. “Sounds awesome! We can go hunting for mermaids!”

“Um, whatever, sure.”

“You brought a bathing suit, right?”

Shirabu sighed. “The presence of the beach was one of the few things I knew about this trip, so yes, I did.”

Terushima winked. “What else would you have brought if you would’ve known?”

“...A shotgun?”

 

Things learned in those three days:  
•Terushima is not only a faster runner, but also a faster swimmer  
•Salt water is the true enemy  
•They didn’t find any mermaids, but they did find some good shells  
•Shirabu never wants to see another jar of peanut butter as long as he lives  
•Terushima tans quite nicely  
•Shirabu does not  
•He just burns  
•Terushima makes friends with all spiders, both the poisonous kind and not  
•Shirabu is not amused by any sort of spiders inside the beach house  
•Bugs don't seem to bother Terushima all that much  
•Bugs seem to like the taste of Shirabu's flesh  
•There really truly is only one bed in that cabin  
•Kitchen chairs do not work as bed-alternatives  
•Terushima is a blanket hog  
•Terushima wants to be the big spoon  
•Shirabu would rather sleep on the floor than be the little spoon, or any spoon in general  
•Shirabu cannot fall asleep on the floor  
•After sleeping in the same bed, Terushima will text everyone in his contacts: “Slept with Shirabu last night! Lmao! (#top!)”  
•Shirabu will have to do serious damage control after that, sacrificing 47% of his phone battery  
•Yahaba’s uncle owns a lot of books on gardening   
•Terushima is good at cheating at card games  
•Wood-burning stoves are not very effective at heating cans of spaghetti  
•Terushima can reach the top shelf of the cabinets if he jumps  
•Shirabu can not.  
•Terushima will hide Shirabu’s deodorant on the top shelf  
•Shirabu will fall off the counter trying to get it  
•Three days is a long time  
•Yahaba’s uncle left some cucumbers in one of the cabinets last year and it took two days to figure out where that weird smell was coming from  
•Texting Yahaba to come back doesn’t work for Shirabu  
•Texting Yahaba to come back because he got bit by one of the green spiders also doesn’t work for Shirabu  
•Yahaba knows when Shirabu is lying  
•Terushima will steal all of the toilet paper from the outhouse and hide it on the top shelf  
•Shirabu has never had to pee in the ocean until now  
•There is no lock on the outhouse door  
•There is no one to hear Shirabu screaming

 

The silver car pulled into the dirt parking area just after noon on the third day, the four other teens chatting casually with each other as they hopped out to go check on their two counterparts. Without having to listen to constant bickering, it had been a restful and fun three days for them.

Yahaba pushed open the cabin door to the biggest mess he’d ever seen. There was a bag of trail mix tipped over across the floor, empty water bottles were set up like bowling pins in the middle of the room, chairs had been toppled, and there was an insane amount of Shirabu’s clothing stuffed in the top shelf of the cabinets. And yet, there was no one to be seen.

Yahaba took a small step into the room, the others peeking around from behind him. “Hello?”

A flash of movement erupted from behind a bookcase and Yahaba was suddenly hit in the head with an empty plastic jar of peanut butter.

Shirabu stood before them wearing only boxer briefs and an elaborate, heavy-looking seashell necklace. There was something, possibly peanut butter, smeared on his chin and across his stomach. His hair was sticking up at all angles and it had a bit of curl to it. His eyes were red like he hadn’t slept in two days and he’d perhaps spent too much time drowning in the ocean. His skin had a painful flushed hue to it and raised red marks of bug bites dotted his body. There was another empty jar of peanut butter in his hand and he stood poised to throw it. After a moment’s shocked pause, he fell to the ground and grabbed Yahaba around the legs.

“You’re not Terushima! You’re not Terushima, thank _God _. Get inside, he could come back any second!”__

__Yahaba hauled the setter to his feet. “Shirabu, it’s okay. Where’s Terushima?”_ _

__The numerous shells around Shirabu’s neck clinked together loudly as he stood unsteadily. “I don’t know... He left hours ago! I don’t want him to die out there..._ _

__“Don’t worry, he’s not going to—”_ _

__“BECAUSE I’M GOING TO KILL HIM MYSELF!!!” Shirabu raised the empty peanut butter jar above his head, the trauma of war flickering in his eyes._ _

__Yahaba clamped his hands around Shirabu’s shoulders. “Woah, there! Take it easy!” He turned to the others of his party. “Somebody go look for Terushima, please!”_ _

__Ennoshita and Futakuchi split off to go search. Yahaba tried to guide Shirabu over to the bed, but he just whimpered and tried to push back. Akaashi pulled one of the wooden kitchen chairs over and Shirabu sat down on that, though he was still eyeing the bed with distrust. He seemed to calm down a little after downing an entire bottle of water in two swallows._ _

__“Shirabu,” Yahaba said steadily. “Do you have any idea at all where Terushima went or exactly how long he’s been gone?”_ _

__“I’m right here,” came a voice from the doorway._ _

__Shirabu tried to jump out of the chair, but Yahaba was holding him down._ _

__Terushima sauntered in, hands in the pockets of his shorts, a smug grin on his face, followed by Futakuchi and Ennoshita. “I was in the toilet, I left about a minute and a half ago.”_ _

__Shirabu quivered._ _

__“Okay... I don’t know what went on here, but we’re all leaving right now,” Yahaba said. “Shirabu, I think you’re dehydrated. And sleep deprived. And you probably have heat exhaustion... Let’s just go, okay?”_ _

__Akaashi and Futakuchi helped Shirabu into the passenger seat of the car after retrieving a pair of his shorts for him from the top of the cabinet. Terushima climbed into the back while Ennoshita and Yahaba packed up all the belongings strewn about the house since Terushima wasn’t allowed to touch Shirabu’s stuff anymore._ _

__Shirabu passed out almost immediately after Yahaba started to drive away so the trip was pretty quiet, though Terushima was telling Futakuchi stories in the back seat, making the latter laugh hysterically._ _

__

__The six pulled in to Yahaba’s house, Futakuchi carrying the still-sleeping Shirabu indoors to the air conditioning and laying him down on a couch. Terushima munched on some carrot sticks in the kitchen, still not allowed anywhere near Shirabu or his things as the rest of the captains sorted through the mound of laundry and miscellaneous knick-knacks they’d pulled from the cabin._ _

__Yahaba drove Terushima home first and returned to find Shirabu finally awake again._ _

__Shirabu wasn’t as happy though. He was clutching at his head and his eyes were still squeezed shut._ _

__“Headache?” Yahaba asked quietly._ _

__“Yeah,” Shirabu whispered. “Am I sunburned, can you tell? I can’t remember.”_ _

__“Pretty badly, yeah...”_ _

__Several minutes later, Shirabu had taken some Advil and was sitting up, rubbing aloe on his toasted shoulders. He looked less mentally insane than earlier, though his hair was still a mess and he moved with a sore lethargy that had the others slightly concerned._ _

__“So that was probably a bad idea, huh?” Yahaba asked._ _

__Shirabu narrowed his eyes. “You think?”_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "'I’M GOING TO KILL HIM MYSELF!!!' Shirabu raised the empty peanut butter jar above his head, the trauma of war flickering in his eyes." Best out-of-context sentence of the year.


	9. Captains' Night Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Terushima and Shirabu are busy murdering each other in the beach hut, Yahaba, Akaashi, Ennoshita, and Futakuchi are having an adventure of their own.

After a day of roaming the city, Yahaba, Futakuchi, Akaashi, and Ennoshita strolled through the automatic doors of their hotel, the air conditioning making the lobby cooler than the twilight air outside, but not uncomfortably cold. Yahaba checked them in and passed out room keys to each of them.

 

“Can we take some bets on how long it’ll take Shirabu and Terushima to figure their shit out?” Yahaba grinned as they made the hike up to their fifth floor room.

“I’m willing to bet my firstborn child that they’re both already dead,” Futakuchi contributed.

“Guys, come on, I think they can do it. There’s no better place than the beach to get to know one another and find some similar interests.” Ennoshita contentedly put his hands in his pockets.

“There’s no way they’re going to find anything to agree on,” Akaashi countered.

Yahaba rolled his eyes. “Have a little faith in them. They’re... I was about to call them mature adults, but that’s not accurate. They’re idiot high schoolers, but they... Okay, never mind, you’re right, this isn’t going to work.”

“But they-”

“No, Ennoshita.”

“The only thing we need to be betting on is where Shirabu’s body is going to be discovered,” Futakuchi said.

Yahaba considered this. “Terushima’s smart. He’d know to float it out to sea and tell the police it was an accidental drowning.”

“If anyone’s going to be found dead, it’s Terushima,” Akaashi argued.

Futakuchi looked at him in surprise. “What do you mean?”

“Nobody’s there to hold Shirabu back.”

“No no no, see, I told Terushima that it was just going to be him and Shirabu in the tiny shack with no electricity. Shirabu just found out about that. He was shell-shocked. Terushima has the tactical advantage.”

“Shirabu has a lot of pent up rage. Trust me, he sat on my couch ranting for quite a while.”

“Akaashi, I don’t think you’re seeing the big picture. Terushima always wins their arguments. Shirabu’s angry but he doesn’t stand a chance against someone as smooth as Terushima. Honestly, I don’t think that Shirabu would be able to keep up with Terushima.”

“He could tie him to a chair. That’s what I’d do.”

“‘That’s what you’d do’? Is this something you think about often? Sounds like _you _have some pent up rage.” Ennoshita frowned__

__Yahaba grinned and slung an arm around Akaashi’s shoulders. “The whole world probably annoys Akaashi.”_ _

__Futakuchi came up on his other side. “We are all but pests to the great and stoic Akaashi Keiji. O, how he would smite us all if he could!”_ _

__Akaashi grinned slightly and grabbed the room key out of his pocket and unlocked the door._ _

__

__The room was nice quality, two queen-sized beds, a small armchair, a desk with a swivel chair, a dresser with a tv, a microwave, and a mini fridge decorated the floor. Ennoshita was the first to claim the bathroom, Akaashi sat down in the arm chair and pulled out his laptop. Yahaba immediately face-planted on one of the beds, and Futakuchi went to investigate the small balcony and the closet. A minute later, Ennoshita re-emerged and found the information booklet, reading off the wifi password to Akaashi. Futakuchi sprang out of the closet, his eyes lit up. He placed one hand on Yahaba’s back, shaking him gently._ _

__Yahaba rolled onto his side only to be attacked with the broom Futakuchi had found in the closet._ _

__The bristles had stabbed him in the face and Yahaba sat up, feeling his eyes watering._ _

__Futakuchi hooted with laughter. “Yahaba, are you crying? Did I hurt your feelings?”_ _

__Yahaba stood quickly and kicked Futakuchi in the shin. “STOP! WITH! THE! BROOMS! WHY IS THERE EVEN A BROOM IN THE CLOSET??”_ _

__Ennoshita sighed from across the room. “Futakuchi, if you’re so bored, how about you go get us some ice from the ice machine.”_ _

__Futakuchi rolled his eyes but grabbed the little metal tub from the counter and swung himself out into the hallway._ _

__

__Futakuchi returned no less than twenty minutes later, flinging the door open and planting both hands on the door frame. “GUYS, GUESS WHAT!”_ _

__Akaashi looked up from his laptop and sighed. “Where’s the ice buck–”_ _

__“THERE’S A FUCKING RAVE IN THE BASEMENT.”_ _

__This caught the others’ attention finally._ _

__“There’s what?” Yahaba asked incredulously._ _

__“In the basement. There’s a party! We should all go!”_ _

__Ennoshita stood up. “Are we allowed to go?”_ _

__Akaashi glared. “I highly doubt it. People don’t just-”_ _

__“We can totally go! I asked! It’s open to anyone 18 years or older!”_ _

__“Are you sure that’s the kind of party we want to be going to...?” Yahaba raised one eyebrow._ _

__“Oh yeah, it’s totally fine, they just don’t want kids in there. They have crazy lights and dancing and a bar if you’re over 20 but whatever. It looks really fun!”_ _

__“I’m sold. Let’s do this.” Yahaba stood up from the bed._ _

__Ten minutes later, they’d all changed clothing, Futakuchi in black skinny jeans and a white graphic tee, Ennoshita a button down, with the sleeves rolled up and dark gray skinny jeans, and Akaashi in a pair of ripped jeans, a black v-neck t-shirt and a gray hoodie, unzipped, the sleeves also rolled up to his elbows._ _

__

__Futakuchi hadn’t been making it up, there was, in fact a party going on in the basement. Lights were shining everywhere, the music thumped loudly in their ears, and people anywhere from their age to about thirty were drinking, chatting, and dancing. Yahaba and Futakuchi immediately sprang to join the throng of people. Akaashi tried to hang back, but Ennoshita wasn’t about to let him stand by the wall like he wanted to._ _

__Ennoshita shoved Akaashi towards the mass of people. Akaashi had stopped trying to fight his friend. The music was pretty cool, if a little loud. The lights, the smells, the sounds, the inexplicable, intangible feeling of life in the air, Ennoshita watched as eventually Akaashi let himself groove to the tunes._ _

__

__Yahaba grabbed at Ennoshita’s arm, pulling him out of the crowd._ _

__“Yahaba, where is your shirt?”_ _

__Yahaba’s grin didn’t falter as he shrugged his bare shoulders. “You can stay as long as you want, but I’m heading back to the room. It’s almost 2:30 am.”_ _

__Ennoshita did a double take. “It’s HOW LATE???”_ _

__Yahaba smirked. “You coming with me then?”_ _

__Ennoshita glanced around longingly. “Just a little longer?”_ _

__“Sure, I don’t care. I’m going to bed though. But I’m going to find my shirt first.”_ _

__Ennoshita laughed and let himself get pulled back into the crowd._ _

__

__In the search for his top, Yahaba met up with Akaashi and Futakuchi who were hanging out talking to a couple other people, maybe a year or two older than them. Task forgotten, Yahaba joined their conversation. One of the older kids bumped into Akaashi and he stumbled, the soda glass tipping out of his hand. Most of the liquid spilled over Yahaba and he made a noise of discomfort as the icy drink ran down his skin. Several girls in their late teens had started trying to hit on Futakuchi and he removed himself from the group. Akaashi hadn’t even wanted to go to the basement rave in the first place so he was more than happy to go with Futakuchi and Yahaba back up to their room. They grabbed a whining Ennoshita from the dance floor as they left, knowing he’d be there until the sun rose if he could._ _

__

__All four of them barely able to keep their eyes open after leaving the sensory overloaded space, no one bothered trying to get ready for bed before they just flopped down on a mattress and passed out._ _

__

__Yahaba ended up on the floor in the middle of the two beds, sleeping sitting up against one of them, his hair and torso sticky with the spilled soda. Futakuchi was sprawled across one of the beds on his stomach, three pillows covering his head. Ennoshita was upside down, clinging to one of Futakuchi’s legs, snoring quietly. Akaashi had the other bed to himself and had cocooned himself in all of the blankets despite the temperature of the summer morning. Three of them awoke at the same time as all of their phones went off simultaneously, twice in a row. Akaashi and Yahaba groggily pulled their devices out of their pockets to check, Futakuchi grabbed his phone and threw it across the room. Ennoshita didn’t stir at the ringing and buzzing from his pocket._ _

__Akaashi groaned, Yahaba chuckled slightly._ _

__“What is it?” Futakuchi mumbled._ _

__Yahaba rubbed at his eyes. “Akaashi’s buying lunch today. It’s definitely going to be Shirabu’s body they’ll be fishing out of the ocean.”_ _

__“Yahaba, I’m gonna have to revoke your membership to the setter squad. We gotta stick together... Shirabu’s our brother in arms,” Akaashi poked his head out from his nest of covers._ _

__Futakuchi chuckled softly, then let out a yell of disgust. “Ennoshita’s drooling on my leg!”_ _

__Yahaba laughed, stretched and stood up._ _

__Akaashi snickered quietly. “Sorry for spilling soda on you last night.”_ _

__Yahaba looked himself over and sighed. “I’m gonna shower. You guys should go find us food. I don’t think Ennoshita’s gonna be up for at least another hour.”_ _

__Futakuchi shoved Ennoshita off of him and sat up. Akaashi and Yahaba laughed. There was a smear of lipstick left over on his cheek._ _

__“You might want to wash your face before we leave.” Akaashi grinned._ _

__“While you’re out, can you guys go back down to the basement and see if you can find my shirt? I want that back.”_ _

__

__When Yahaba hopped out of the shower, Ennoshita was still asleep and Futakuchi and Akaashi hadn’t yet returned from their quest for breakfast. Yahaba took this opportunity and grabbed the broom out of their closet._ _

__Ennoshita stirred slightly and opened one eye. “What are you doing...”_ _

__“Futakuchi and Akaashi left to find us food. When they get back, I’m gonna get my revenge!”_ _

__“...what kind of food are they bringing?”_ _

__“No clue. But Futakuchi’s definitely not going to expect to ambush him now!”_ _

__Ennoshita rolled over and closed his eyes again. “Just don’t hurt the food...”_ _

__

__It was only about five minutes later when voices could be heard in the hall and Yahaba went to stand at the ready by the door._ _

__Futakuchi opened the door and rushed inside much faster than Yahaba had planned for and they collided. Yahaba dropped the broom and fell backwards._ _

__Futakuchi looked slightly confused._ _

__Ennoshita laughed._ _

__

__After they all ate and the rest of them showered, they traveled further downtown to the site of a massive water park. It was a hot day, especially warm for the late Spring day and the four quickly changed into bathing suits and rode waterslides like there was no tomorrow._ _

__

__As they were leaving the food court after lunch, they walked along the perimeter of a wave pool, about a meter from the edge. Yahaba spotted a broom leaning against the wall of a gazebo out of the corner of his eye. Nobody noticed as he slunk away to grab it. Running back toward the group, he grinned and swung it toward Futakuchi._ _

__“Woah, look at that slide! It’s so steep!” Futakuchi yelled, jumping forward and pointing at a nearby attraction._ _

__The broom missed its target entirely, instead smacking a carton of french fries out of Ennoshita’s hands._ _

__Yahaba immediately dropped the broom and jumped away from Ennoshita, holding up his hands defensively. “W-wait. I didn’t mean for that to happen! I can explain!”_ _

__Ennoshita glared silently, then grabbed Yahaba by the shoulders and forcefully shoved him into the wave pool._ _

__

__Once Yahaba had been pulled out of the pool, Futakuchi continued leading them toward the tall slides. There were six flights of stairs to the top and they were at least fifteen meters high._ _

__Akaashi stopped at the bottom of the stairs. “I’m sitting this one out,” he said at Ennoshita’s questioning glance._ _

__“Scared of heights?” Futakuchi smirked._ _

__There was really no other reasonable excuse. “Yes.”_ _

__Ennoshita grabbed Akaashi’s arm. “Just climb to the top with us. It’s really not as high up as you think it is.”_ _

__

__It was absolutely as high as Akaashi had thought it was. His stomach was making it very clear that he should get back down to the ground. Ennoshita was thinking the same thing, however they were picturing different methods to accomplish that..._ _

__Yahaba went first, waving from the bottom as he dismounted. Futakuchi went next, ending up with the worst wedgie imaginable._ _

__“You go next, Ennoshita. I’ll go last,” Akaashi said softly._ _

__Ennoshita laughed. “You think I’m stupid? Get on the slide, it’ll be fine.”_ _

__Akaashi could see no convenient escape from Ennoshita so he carefully sat down in the stream of water at the top of the slide. He couldn’t even see most of it, the slope was so steep._ _

__“Keep your arms crossed across your chest and your legs crossed at the ankles. Don’t try to sit up, slow down or move until you’ve stopped at the bottom,” the lifeguard said boredly from his chair._ _

__Akaashi took a deep breath, trying to ignore the pounding of his heart. Suddenly there was a hand on his back and he was flying towards the near-straight down slope. He thought he might’ve screamed as he was flung over the drop, squeezing his eyes shut the whole time._ _

__Futakuchi and Yahaba had to help him out of the ride, he was shaking so badly. But as they found out moments later, it wasn’t from fear. As Ennoshita slid to a halt and jumped out of the half-tube, he grinned at Akaashi only to be met with Akaashi’s fist square in the middle of his chest. Ennoshita stumbled backward, almost falling back into the slide._ _

__“WARN ME NEXT TIME!” Akaashi yelled in Ennoshita’s face and stalked away in the opposite direction.  
Ennoshita bought Akaashi ice cream in order to avoid his death._ _

__

__By the time the sun was touching the western horizon, the four of them were exhausted. They grabbed a quick meal from a diner down the street from their hotel before collapsing back onto the beds. Tonight however, they were slightly more conscious than the previous and weren’t as satisfied just crashing in whatever position they happened to land in._ _

__“Yeah, somebody else gets to share the bed with Ennoshita tonight,” Futakuchi yawned. “He’s clingy and I don’t need him drooling on me again.”_ _

__On one of the beds, Yahaba was stacking pillows in a pile for himself. He was up to three Akaashi glanced at him and climbed onto the other bed, securing two pillows for himself._ _

__Ennoshita snickered. “Take your pick, Futakuchi. The pillow hog or the blanket hog.”_ _

__Futakuchi sat down on Yahaba’s bed, grabbing the fourth pillow away before Yahaba could steal that one too._ _

__“You don’t even use pillows!” Yahaba whined. “You just put them over your head. Let me have it!”_ _

__“No!” Futakuchi snapped. “I need it to be there!”_ _

__

__“So,” Ennoshita ignored the others’ bickering and crawled onto the other bed with Akaashi. “You stick to your side, I’ll stick to mine?”_ _

__“I don’t care, just don’t touch me,” Akaashi grumbled, grabbing all of the blankets and instantly disappearing underneath them._ _

__“Is this still about the slide?”_ _

__Akaashi didn’t respond._ _

__Ennoshita frowned and tried to tug one of the sheets away from the mound._ _

__A hand slid out from underneath and slapped Ennoshita away._ _

__Ennoshita sighed and curled himself into a ball on the other side of the bed without any blankets._ _

__

__“Okay, but what if you put all of the pillows on top of your head and then I laid ON TOP OF YOU!” Yahaba’s voice had risen to a near-shout._ _

__“WELL WHAT IF YOU STOP BEING SUCH A PRINCESS AND JUST SLEEP WITH A NORMAL AMOUNT OF PILLOWS!! YOU DON'T NEED ALL FOUR!” Futakuchi slapped his hand against the wall, though he was smiling._ _

__“Just shut up!” Ennoshita moaned._ _

__“Yahaba’s not sharing the damn pillows!” Futakuchi stuck out his tongue._ _

__“What are you, six years old?” Yahaba sneered. “Do we need to go back to Pre-School?”_ _

__“You’re the one who can’t figure out how to share, I’m fine!”_ _

__Yahaba grinned and grabbed a pillow off his stack and climbed on top of Futakuchi, smothering his face._ _

__Through laughter, Futakuchi got in one good punch before Ennoshita grabbed a flip-flop off the floor and chucked it in their direction. “Stop murdering each other. I don’t care how much fun it is, I want to sleep and if one of you dies, I’m going to have to deal with the police and the body and I’m too tired for that right now.”_ _

__“I’d literally rather be in the beach house with Shirabu and Terushima right now,” came a voice from the pile of fabric that was Akaashi._ _

__“Well considering that Shirabu’s probably dead, I’d say they’re both getting a lot of peace right now.” Futakuchi took his one pillow away from Yahaba and held it down over his head._ _

__Yahaba laid down on his three, folding his arms over his chest. “One of us needs to get up and flip the light off. And it’s not gonna be me.”_ _

__“Ditto,” Ennoshita called._ _

__“Me neither,” Futakuchi said._ _

__Akaashi didn’t move._ _

__Yahaba cleared his throat. “Akaashi.”_ _

__There was no reaction from the mass of blankets._ _

__Ennoshita grinned and climbed on top of his bunkmate and bounced up and down. “Akaaaashiiii....”_ _

__Ennoshita was flung to the floor._ _

__Yahaba laughed. “Hey, looks who’s out of bed. Wanna hit the lights, Ennoshita?”_ _

__Ennoshita punched at Akaashi who probably didn’t feel a thing, then reluctantly walked over to turn the lights off._ _

__

__Within ten minutes, Futakuchi had pulled all of the pillows on top of him and Yahaba was comfortably lounging on top of him. Ennoshita kept gravitating towards Akaashi as his need for something to hold onto overcame sleep, but Akaashi would stick out a foot and shove him away again._ _

__Ultimately, Akaashi still woke up marvelously refreshed in the morning, while Ennoshita hadn’t been as successful. Yahaba was also content as the sun streamed through their windows. Futakuchi had almost died of asphyxiation once or twice and his bedhead could kill a man._ _

__Ennoshita lazily reached for the TV remote. Yahaba looked over from where he was surfing the web on his phone._ _

__“Anyone have a channel preference?” Ennoshita asked tiredly._ _

__Futakuchi suggested the home improvement station when Ennoshita gasped, finding Jurassic World playing on a movie channel._ _

__

__They left that on in the background as they started getting ready. Futakuchi stepped out of the shower and stated that he’d go grab breakfast for them all again today. Ennoshita finished running a comb through his hair and offered to go with.  
Yahaba chuckled when the door slammed and immediately reached under the bed and pulled out a spool of yarn._ _

__Akaashi had slowly started to uncurl himself from his nest. “What are you doing now...”_ _

__Yahaba grabbed the broom back out of the closet and started rigging his trap by the door._ _

__“Where did you even get that string?” Akaashi chuckled._ _

__“You’ll never know...” Yahaba grinned slyly and finished his contraption._ _

__“It’ll just smack him as soon as he opens the door?”_ _

__“Yep. That’s all He’s gotta do.” Yahaba touched the door handle. Suddenly the loosely-tied yarn broke free. Yahaba grabbed for it, but he was too late and was forcefully nailed in the face with the broom, sending him falling to the floor indignantly._ _

__That was the moment that the door opened again and Futakuchi and Ennoshita stepped into the room with food, finding Yahaba sitting on the floor with the broom and a pile of yarn._ _

__

__“So what are our final bets on how Shirabu and Terushima are holding up?” Ennoshita asked as they loaded back into Yahaba’s car to go retrieve their companions._ _

__“Shirabu’s dead or nearly so,” Futakuchi stated bluntly._ _

__“I can’t argue with that,” Akaashi agreed._ _

__“Yeah me either. At the very most, they’re sitting on the beach fifty meters apart, just not talking to each other,” Yahaba contributed._ _

__“Aw, come on. You guys have no faith in them?” Ennoshita sighed._ _

__“Not really...”_ _

__A half an hour later, after loading a smug Terushima, a worryingly-unconscious Shirabu, and a pile of unsorted luggage into the car, Futakuchi leaned forward to Ennoshita’s seat._ _

__“So. Where you taking us for lunch, Mr. Faith-in-humanity?”_ _


	10. Reinforcements

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shirabu has an idea that's just crazy enough to work.

Shirabu let Ennoshita, Yahaba, and Futakuchi into his house. It was the day after they had returned from the beach and Shirabu had been able to take a long, hot bath, fix the mess that was his hair, and resettle himself into life without Terushima constantly oppressing him. However his three friends noted that he still looked exhausted and he had an ice pack pressed against the side of his head.

“You guys are welcome to anything from the kitchen, I’m... I’m going to sit down though. I still feel really light-headed.”

“Is there anything we can get you?” Ennoshita asked worriedly. “Painkillers, water?”

Shirabu eased himself into a chair in the living room and held up a glass of water. “I’m alright, thanks. I’m not allowed to take anymore Advil for two hours.”

The others perched on various seats, still watching Shirabu with concern.

“Hey, man, are you gonna, like, live through this?” Futakuchi asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Shirabu waved a hand dismissively. “But I had an idea. When I was talking to Akaashi a little while ago, he said that all three of Nekoma’s third years are acting as captain since Kuroo never picked. What if we invited them to one of our gatherings? There’s no reason we couldn’t and I think might help boost their morale to be included! My house is plenty big for the nine of us and we could just hang out, play video games, chat, eat food, whatever we want to do!”

The three were silent for a moment until Yahaba cleared his throat.

“What about Terushima?” he asked.

Shirabu looked a little perplexed. “What about him? I didn’t say anything about Terushima.”

“I thought you had asked the three of us to come over so that you could complain about him ruining your life. Are you sure you’re okay? This is awfully uncharacteristic of you.”

Shirabu scowled. “Hey, I can be nice too. Don’t just assume I’m an asshole by default.”

“I think he’s broken...” Futakuchi mumbled. 

“Hey, are you guys against this idea or no?”

“I’m all for it if you want,” Ennoshita started, “but I do think you’re still a little out of it... Terushima would be there too.”

Shirabu looked exasperated. “I know!”

“I mean, alright, whatever you want,” Yahaba said. “When would we do this?”

“Right now!” Shirabu jumped out of his chair, then swayed slightly.

Futakuchi reached over and helped steady him and sit back down. “How about next Sunday. You’re... you’re not ready for this yet...”

Shirabu pouted but didn’t argue. “Why are you so worried about Terushima now? We all would’ve gotten together at some point or another again.”

The three looked at each other. Yahaba cleared his throat quietly. “We weren’t going to arrange anymore hangouts between the six of us. We decided to stop trying to force friendship.”

“We were going to stop the captain hangouts?”

“Shirabu, this war you’ve declared on Terushima, you’re getting yourself hurt and as friends we can’t let that keep happening,” Futakuchi said softly, looking at the floor

Ennoshita spoke up. “Give it three or four days, then text me if you still want to do this and I’ll tell Akaashi to get in touch with Yamamoto, Kenma, and Fukunaga.”

“I’ll absolutely still want to do this!”

 

* * *

 

“Good going, Kenjirou...” Shirabu muttered as he finished buttoning his shirt. “What a great idea. You could’ve been rid of Terushima for life! But no, you just had to invite him over again... I don’t even know what Nekoma is like, what if they have their own Terushima? What if—”

The doorbell rang, snapping Shirabu out of his thoughts.

Futakuchi and Yahaba were the first to arrive together, followed by Ennoshita a few minutes later. The doorbell rang again and everyone tensed slightly. It was either Akaashi and the wildcard Nekoma squad or it was—

 

“H-hey, Terushima.”

“Shirabu! I was starting to miss hanging out with you!”

“Um, yeah... Come on inside... Can I get you anything to drink?”

“Sure, thanks.” Terushima shut the door and ran a hand over the dent in the wall behind the door, murmuring, “Hello, my old friend...”

Shirabu rolled his eyes. “What can I get for you?”

Terushima brushed past Shirabu into the living room where the others were. “Eh. Whatever’s fine.”

Shirabu frowned, but went to pour Terushima a glass of water.

Terushima took a few small sips as he talked to the others, but got bored within a few minutes and walked to the kitchen.

Shirabu had just sat down but he leapt to his feet again to follow Terushima. He didn’t want the rambunctious teenager breaking stuff in his house.

Terushima went for the fridge, pulling out a jug of orange juice.

“I could’ve gotten that for you right off the bat, you know.”

“I didn’t know what you had. I had to come investigate the fridge.”

Shirabu rolled his eyes again. “Alright whatever.”

Terushima popped the cap off the jug and raised it to his mouth.

Shirabu jumped forward to stop him, eyes widening.

Terushima lowered it again, laughing. “Relax, I wasn’t going to do it.”

“And what evidence do I have to support that?” Shirabu folded his arms across his chest.”

Terushima winked and quickly brought the mouth of the bottle back up to his lips.

Shirabu grabbed at the jug, juice sloshing everywhere.

Cold, sticky liquid splashed on Shirabu’s shirt, soaking through the material. He froze, his mouth falling open slightly.

Terushima burst out laughing.

At that moment, the doorbell rang.

Shirabu looked down at his clothes. This was not the first impression he wanted to make on the Nekoma captains...

 

“Sorry,” Akaashi said, “we got held up at the station. Anyway, we’re here now.”

Shirabu could see Akaashi trying not to notice the juice on his shirt. The three Nekoma third-years stepped through the door after Akaashi. Shirabu tried to ignore the mess down his front as he shook hands and greeted the Tokyo residents. Yamamoto seemed to be of the loud, rambunctious sort and Shirabu immediately worried, Kenma barely looked up from his PSP to say hi, Fukunaga didn’t say anything at all, just nodded. Immediately after, Shirabu excused himself and ran upstairs to change his shirt, already knowing this day was going to be a disaster.

Shirabu peered into the living room, finding that a game of Mario Kart had been started. He stepped back out of sight, breathing slowly, trying to figure out how to take control of the situation. Suddenly Shirabu heard a small noise and turned to look. Fukunaga had appeared around the corner.

“Sorry,” Shirabu said quietly, looking away again. “Give me a second.”

There was a hand on Shirabu’s shoulder. Fukunaga had silently moved to stand just behind him.

Shirabu looked into the wide eyes. A bit of calm washed over him.

Fukunaga tilted his head slightly.

Shirabu nodded. “Thanks, Fukunaga.”

The two walked back into the other room.

Yamamoto, Futakuchi, Akaashi, and Yahaba were currently racing.

“Is there anything you guys want to eat?” Shirabu asked his remaining guests.

Akaashi shrugged and smiled. “If you have some snacks, that’d be fine.”

Shirabu nodded. “There’s some chips in the cabinet. I’ll go get them.”

Unfortunately, Terushima had stood up from the couch and trailed Shirabu into the kitchen.

Shirabu reached up for the cabinet handle, finding Terushima’s hand snaking in next to his.

“Let me help you, Shirabu. Can you reach that shelf?”

Shirabu glared and swatted Terushima’s hand away. “I can reach it just fine!”

Terushima put his hands on top of Shirabu’s head and pushed him down. “I could reach it better though because I’m taller,” he sang.

“Does that even matter that much?” came a soft voice.

Terushima and Shirabu looked over. Kenma hadn’t put away his PSP, but he glanced up at them from the couch.

“Not really.” Shirabu shrugged, grabbed the bag of chips from the cabinet and brushed past Terushima.

 

The next race consisted of Terushima, Yamamoto, Yahaba, and Ennoshita. Fukunaga was silently observing from the couch. Kenma still hadn’t put down his handheld, Akaashi was sitting next to Kenma, cuddling the bag of chips, loudly trying to explain to Ennoshita how to use power-ups. Yamamoto and Terushima were locked in competition for the 1st place spot and for who could yell the loudest apparently. Futakuchi had found the newly-purchased broom from the closet and was stabbing Yahaba in the back of the head with it. Yahaba was yelling nonsense, trying to swat at Futakuchi and drive at the same time. His car fell off the edge of a cliff and he turned around and tackled Futakuchi to the floor.

Shirabu took a deep breath and sat down lightly on a couch, away from the others. He’d already started planning his own funeral, but gradually, the banter grabbed his attention and after only a few short minutes he found himself laughing with the others. Terushima placed first, Yamamoto close behind. Ennoshita managed 9th place. Yahaba was still trying to wrestle the broom away from Futakuchi and had disregarded the game completely. Yamamoto handed his controller to Fukunaga, Terushima refused to give his up because he was the supreme champion, Ennoshita passed his controller to Shirabu, and Futakuchi stole Yahaba’s while Yahaba was throwing the broom across the hallway. 

 

The race started and Futakuchi took the lead first. Yahaba wasn’t about to let his nemesis win easily and he set about trying to climb on Futakuchi’s shoulders. Terushima and Shirabu passed Futakuchi’s floundering racecar simultaneously and suddenly, it was a constant battle between them for the rest of the race. Shirabu focused on the road, taking the most effective path, making sure not to swerve or lose time taking risky shortcuts. Terushima was the exact opposite, going after out-of-the-way powerups. Terushima shoved Shirabu’s car off the track at the beginning of the third lap and Yamamoto came over and shouted for Shirabu to avenge his loss the previous round and beat Terushima. Shirabu’s car reset and slowly but surely he began catching up to Terushima again.

“You’re never gonna beat me if you drive like that, Shirabu,” Terushima sneered. “You need to pull some tricks out if you want first.”

Shirabu ignored Terushima, bit his lip and hugged the inside of a curve, landing him in the lead. Yamamoto was yelling in his ear, but Terushima was still just behind Shirabu’s car. He focused on Terushima’s screen, never letting him pass. The finish line appeared and suddenly the room exploded in yelling.

“BLUE SHELL!!! TERUSHIMA GOT A BLUE SHELL!!”

Shirabu glanced at Terushima out of the corner of his eye. Terushima was grinning, his finger already pressing the button to launch. A bit of math ran through Shirabu’s mind. As long as he didn’t let up on his speed he had a chance to make it before getting hit. As irrational as it was, Shirabu’s finger pressed the accelerator harder in desperation. He closed his eyes as he saw the flash of the blue shell hit his car. He opened one eye slowly. He had already crossed finish line. He won.

Yamamoto slapped him hard across the back, grinning.

Shirabu turned to Terushima.

“Good game.” Terushima grinned and put up a hand for a high-five.

Shirabu smiled and swung his hand toward Terushima’s, but Terushima pulled his away at the last second.

“Too slow!”

Shirabu almost got mad, but paused for a second. This wasn’t really anything to be upset about. Most of the stuff he got mad about wasn’t worth a second thought. _For all my logical tendencies, letting Terushima egg me on like this really doesn’t make that much sense. ___

__Shirabu laughed and punched Terushima’s shoulder lightly._ _

__

__After several more rounds of Mario Kart, it was discovered that no one could beat Kenma, but no one was really surprised by that._ _

__“Hey, what do you guys say we go play some volleyball?” Terushima suggested after coming in second to Kenma for the hundredth time._ _

__Shirabu stood up from his place on the couch. “I’m in!”_ _

__Akaashi cleared his throat. “Half of us are setters...”_ _

__“We could grab some players from our teams, I’m sure we can find more people who will want to play,” Yahaba suggested._ _

__Ennoshita grinned. “Can we go down to Tokyo? We can play with Nekoma. Are you guys okay with that?”_ _

__Fukunaga, Kenma, and Yamamoto looked at each other._ _

__“Wouldn’t it be easier for all of you guys to get people from around here?” Yamamoto asked._ _

__Futakuchi clapped Yamamoto on the shoulder. “We want to practice with you guys. Gotta make sure you guys make it to nationals so you can face off against whichever one of us will be there.”_ _

__Even Kenma looked up from his handheld._ _

__Ennoshita broke the silence. “Well, are we going or not?”_ _

__Yamamoto grinned. “Let’s do it. Fukunaga, text the kids so they’ll all be there when we arrive.”_ _

__They laughed as they headed for the door._ _

__“‘The kids’?” Yahaba chuckled._ _

__Kenma smiled slightly. “That’s what we call the underclassmen.”_ _

__“They look up to us, we help them live their lives!” Yamamoto said dramatically. “It’s the only fitting name for our precious kouhai. This will be great practice for all of us.”_ _

__“Maybe next time, we can gather all our teams together and play tournaments,” Shirabu suggested._ _

__“Shiratorizawa wants to get their butts handed to them by Johzenji again, eh?” Terushima smirked._ _

__“In your dreams, Terushima. We’re not gonna lose to you guys ever again.”_ _

__“Well we’ll just have to see now won’t we.”_ _


	11. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New friendships lead to quality volleyball practice.

It was an unusual situation. If Akaashi had been told that this day he’d be the one smiling and excitedly tugging on Bokuto’s arm, urging him to hurry up, he would’ve scoffed and hired a new fortune teller. And yet, here he was, practically dragging his older companion down the street.

“Akaashi, where are you taking me? And why are you walking so fast?”

Akaashi hid his grin by turning away, but didn’t stop pulling. “Bokuto-san. You know what’s in this direction.”

Bokuto sighed loudly. “I don’t want to go to Nekoma. Stop. I don’t want to be reminded.”

Akaashi stopped walking and turned to face Bokuto, unable to stop the corners of his lips from turning upwards. “Do I look like I’m going to show you something sad?”

Bokuto’s eyes flitted across Akaashi’s face for a full three seconds—a record for Bokuto standing still—then he took off sprinting. Akaashi was quick to follow.

 

Bokuto was still much faster than Akaashi and Akaashi arrived at the doors of Nekoma’s gymnasium, breathing hard. Bokuto was standing in the doorway, unmoving. Akaashi put a hand on Bokuto’s shoulder.

“What do you think, Bokut—”

Bokuto grabbed Akaashi’s hand and yanked him along as he sprinted away from the door. “Come on! We need to get Kuroo!”

Akaashi was surprised for a second, but after regaining his footing and falling into step next to Bokuto, he just smiled.

 

Bokuto rang the doorbell at Kuroo’s house about nineteen times before Akaashi pulled his hand away. It was several seconds before Kuroo answered. His hair had grown out, but it still stuck up in all directions. He visibly slouched and his t-shirt and sweatpants hung loosely on his frame. Dark rings circled his eyes. It looked like he hadn’t been able to move on from what had happened in the slightest.

“Kuroo! You have to come with us! I have to show you stuff at Nekoma!!!”

Kuroo glared and tried to close the door, but Bokuto pushed it back open.

“Bokuto, stop! I’m not going to Nekoma! I deserted them and I can’t ever go back. I don’t deserve to. I know what the situation is there and I’m not going to rub it in.”

Bokuto grabbed Kuroo’s hand and pulled him out the door, disregarding his words.

 

Kuroo was out of breath much quicker than normal which worried Akaashi slightly. He guessed Kuroo hadn't really gone out much lately. Hopefully this would change his situation. Kuroo resisted and tried to pull away more and more the closer they got to Nekoma but Bokuto wasn’t about to let go. As they stepped onto the campus and the doors of the gymnasium came into view, Kuroo started to submit to his fate and allowed Bokuto to push him through the doors. Kuroo stood against the wall for several minutes, staring. Nekoma was faced up against Karasuno’s team, led by Ennoshita. The members of Nekoma had started to take notice of Kuroo’s presence. Empowered, Kenma executed an expert setter dump. Yamamoto followed, scoring the next point with a powerful spike that blew Karasuno’s block away. Fukunaga scored the third consecutive point with a quick that the defense had no chance of stopping. Those three points won them the set.

 

On the adjacent court, Shiratorizawa was in the middle of a heated match against Johzenji. Ten minutes later, Shirabu would toss the perfect ball to Goshiki who would score the winning point for them. Terushima would duck under the net and throw his arm around Shirabu’s shoulders. Shirabu would laugh, try to push Terushima away, say something snarky. Terushima would come back with something clever and they would both laugh.

 

The winning teams would play against the others, currently sitting out, playing casual matches all morning. When they were done, Yahaba would congratulate his team on their victory that round and order his underclassmen to help clean up the gym. Futakuchi would sneak up behind him and nail him in the back of the head with a broom. Yahaba would yell, try to fix his hair and run after the laughing Futakuchi.

 

There was hugging, punching, yelling, teasing, laughing, chatting, and in Nekoma’s case crying, but there was happiness in that gym.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Contrary to... this... SHIRABU IS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER I DON'T KNOW WHY I'VE DONE THIS TO HIM. Just don't want y'all to think I hate him.... He's precious to me...
> 
>  
> 
> In case you were confused: No, you didn't miss something important with the broom thing. There is no real reasoning behind it, it just exists as a recurring gag with no context lmao
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks to:  
> [starlity](http://starlity.tumblr.com)— You are the source of all of this and you are an angel. BLESS YOUR SOUL. I love talking to you and screaming into the void about literally anything and everything. It was June 18th when I messaged you "My new favorite thing to think about is how FREAKING ANNOYING Shirabu would probably find Terushima ;)" and you responded "oh my god. I just want Shirabu endlessly screaming because of Terushima tbh" THINGS MAY HAVE GOTTEN OUT OF HAND IN THE PAST MONTH AND A HALF BUT I WOULDN'T TAKE BACK A SINGLE MOMENT OF IT!! Thank you thank you thank you for all of this, my friend!
> 
> [tendouaf](http://tendouaf.tumblr.com)— Thank you so much for putting up with my constant yelling about Shirabu and TeruShira and beta reading this in the moment that I had zero confidence about posting. Your constant companionship means more to me than you can imagine
> 
> my mother— for also beta reading, mostly for grammar and stupid nonsensical stuff. (Literally she knows nothing about haikyuu other than the stuff I make her read and it's hilarious, she's so confused)
> 
> all y'all— FOR READING!! I hope you enjoyed this disaster and maybe took away an appreciation for unappreciated-minor-character Shirabu or TeruShira or even some combination of my ot4 (Futakuchi/Yahaba/Akaashi/Ennoshita) Comments are always appreciated if you have the time, but really just thanks for reading, it means a lot to me!!


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